As the UK Carrier Strike Group 25 (CSG 25) global deployment draws to a close, what are the lessons to consider for future European engagement with the Indo-Pacific?
This seminar brings together leading experts on sea power, East Asian security, and geostrategy to examine the dynamics of limited conflict, escalation risks, and deterrence in the maritime domain of East Asia – and why they matter to Europe. Whilst European security challenges loom large in planners’ ability to think about commitments beyond the continent, our discussion will focus on the strategic and operational realities of great power rivalry in a maritime theatre at the centre of future international stability. The seminar will endeavour to provide novel insights into the risk of war in contemporary East Asia and how such an understanding is essential to better identify ways to articulate how and in what ways these two regions remain inevitably linked.
About the Speakers:
Sophia Gaston is a British foreign policy researcher and geopolitical analyst, focused on the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security theatres. She is a Visiting Fellow in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and a Senior Advisor (UK) to the Defence and National Security Practice at The Asia Group in Washington, D.C. Sophia’s research explores how best Britain can advance its core strategic interests, reinvigorate its closest alliances, and harness its instruments of national power to respond to the disruptive influence of authoritarian states like China and Russia. Sophia advises the British Government as an external challenge partner and policy expert, and trains civil servants on geopolitical capabilities. She is an established broadcaster and media commentator, and presents regularly on her work at conferences around the world.
Prof Alessio Patalano is Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia at the Department of War Studies (DWS), and Co-Director of the Centre for Statecraft and National Security (CSNS) at King’s College London (KCL). He specialises in maritime strategy and doctrine, Japanese military history and strategy, East Asian security, and European defence and foreign policy. Prof Patalano has extensive international experience in academic and military engagement, and policy advice. He taught at the UK Joint Command and Staff Services College (JSCSC), and held research positions at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the IRIS in Paris, and for KOMATSU Corporation, with responsibility to deliver timely high-impact risk analysis.
Prof Øystein Tunsjø is Professor and Head of the Security in Asia Program (IFS Asia). He specialises in US-China relations, geopolitics and how global power shifts shape Europe’s defence and security.
Dr Ian Bowers is a Senior Researcher at Centre for International Security. His research focuses on sea power, the future operational environment, deterrence and the Korean Peninsula.
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