Indo-Pacific Conference

ABOUT CHACR

The Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR) exists to gather and present a wide range of views and perspectives to inform the British Army. It contributes to decisions concerning strategy, capability and force development and operations whilst challenging conventional wisdom and testing evolving concepts. We do this by conducting and sponsoring research and analysis (both in-house and through a wide network of associates and colleagues across the globe) into the enduring nature and changing character of conflict on land.

At the same time the CHACR is an active hub of scholarship, professional enquiry and debate to help to sustain and develop the British Army’s conceptual component of fighting power. Importantly, CHACR acts not just as a champion for individual ‘soldier-scholars’, but the promotion of a ‘brains-based’ approach throughout the Army. In short, CHACR promotes the notion that it’s as important to ensure that the army is not out-thought as it is to ensure that it is not out-fought.

KEY SERVICES:

l Commissioned research to support strategic planning, deployments, operations, projects, and senior level visits and talks.

l Keynote events (conferences, lectures and debates) by internationally renowned experts to provide conceptual development, in-depth thinking and insight.

l Formal and informal red-teaming and review to enable you to test your ideas and projects with leading experts; either in written form, wargame or in small roundtable discussions. The CHACR network can also source Army, national or international SMEs tailored to your requirements.

l Bespoke briefings on specific countries or issues for operational, strategic or defence engagement purposes.

l Mentoring and advice for Masters and PhD theses and academic and think tank placements.

l Bringing CHACR to regional hubs across the UK to ensure as many of the Army as possible are able to access cutting edge insight and analysis in-person.

l Support to Staff Rides by carefully selected history and war studies experts.

l Defence engagement through visits to, and hosting of, foreign delegations and partnered research coordinated with Army communication and engagement priorities. CHACR provides a nuanced strategic communication messaging platform, neither military nor academic, it can gain insights and provide introductions not easily accessible by serving Army personnel.

l The British Army Review, print and online articles. The journal of British military thought delivers high quality academic articles from across the Army and academia, supported by online and print commentaries, in-depth briefings, and summaries of global ideas.

Opening Remarks – Chief of the General Staff, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders

Introduction – Director Strategy, Maj Gen James Roddis, Strategic Command

Panel 1 – The Army’s role in the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy?

Chair: Maj Gen (Retd.) Andrew Sharpe PhD, Director CHACR

Maritime roles in the Indo-Pacific: Capt Kevin Rowlands PhD RN, RNSSC

Critical perspectives on the UK Indo-Pacific Strategy: Brig (Retd.) Ben Barry, IISS

Regional security picture: Veerle Nouwens, IISS

Break

Panel 2 – Regional security perspectives in the Indo-Pacific

Chair: Maj Ben Cutter, CGS Scholar

India: Dr Sebastian Pender, Research Associate, University of Oxford

ASEAN Nations: Ben Bland, Chatham House

Northeast Asia: Prof Alessio Patalano, King’s College London

Australia: Sophia Gaston, Head of Foreign Policy and UK Resilience, Policy Exchange

Closing Remarks – Brig Jamie Murray, former Head British Defence Staff

South-East Asia, and Lt Col Hugo Stanford-Tuck, CO 1 RGR and Commander

British Forces Brunei

China Workshop UK Military & Civil Service Only (Security Clearance required)

l Air Cdre Michael Blackburn, UK Defence Attaché, Beijing

l Sqn Ldr Joe Wright, Asia and Thematic Centre, Defence Intelligence

l Matt Harris, Principal China Analyst, Secretary of State’s Office of Net Assessment and Challenge

BIOGRAPHIES INTRODUCTION

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES RODDIS DSO MBE

James assumed the post of Director Strategy, United Kingdom Strategic Command in March 2022. As part of his role, James sits on the Strategic Command Executive Committee that incorporates the Integrated Global Defence Network, comprising all UK Defence Attachés, Loan Service, Foreign Liaison Staff and International Liaison Posts and seeks to provide UK Strategic Command with an opportunity to better use the regional and cultural expertise of the Global Defence Network to inform Defence decision making.

PANEL 1

CHAIR: MAJOR GENERAL (RETD.) DR ANDREW SHARPE CBE

Andrew is the Director of CHACR. Following a 34-year military career and nine operational tours he left the British Army as a Major General. After commanding at every level from Second Lieutenant to Brigadier he completed his time in uniform as the Director of DCDC. He is a senior mentor on the Army’s Generalship programme, has an MA in International Studies from King’s College London, and a PhD in the Strategic Leadership of International Intervention from Trinity College Cambridge.

CAPTAIN KEVIN ROWLANDS PHD RN

Kevin is the Head of the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre. In a naval career that has spanned more than 30 years, 20 of which have been spent at sea, he has been the Secretary to the Chiefs of Staff Committee and other senior MOD boards, and was the Course Director for the UK’s Advanced Command and Staff Course. Kevin holds a PhD in War Studies from King’s College and master’s degrees in defence studies and education. He is the author of Naval Diplomacy in 21st Century: A Model for the Post-Cold War Global Order.

VEERLE NOUWENS

Veerle is the Shangri-La Dialogue Senior Fellow for Indo-Pacific Defence and Strategy at the IISS. Her research interests include China’s foreign policy, cross-strait relations, maritime security and ASEAN. Prior to joining the IISS, she worked as Senior Research Fellow at RUSI and as a policy officer in the political section of the European External Action Service’s Delegation in Singapore. She holds an MPhil in modern Chinese studies and has attended a Mandarin semester programme at Tsinghua University.

BRIGADIER (RETD.) BEN BARRY OBE

Ben is the Senior Fellow for Land Warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ International Institute for Land Warfare. Prior to joining IISS in 2010, he served in the British Army and commanded both an armoured infantry battalion and a multinational brigade on UN and NATO operations in Bosnia. He was director of the British Army Staff in the MOD and author of the Army’s lessons learned analysis of post-conflict stabilisation of Iraq.

PANEL 2

CHAIR: MAJOR BEN CUTTER

Ben is a British Army Officer who has recently completed a placement as a Chief of the General Staff scholar at the University of Exeter, where his academic research focused on the United Kingdom’s security strategy in the Indo-Pacific region. His studies were followed by a professional placement at the Royal United Services Institute. His military career to date has included operational deployments to Somalia and Afghanistan.

INDIA: DR SEBASTIAN PENDER

Sebastian is a Research Fellow at CHACR, working on the shifting dynamics of the IndoPacific region and has a particular interest in India’s emerging role and the geopolitical implications of India’s evolving maritime security strategy. He has previously held research appointments at the University of Oxford, University of London and the International Centre of Advanced Studies in New Delhi. He is currently completing a second book assessing the causes, nature, and effects of the so-called Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946.

SOUTH EAST ASIA: BEN BLAND

Ben is the director of the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House. His research focuses on the nexus of politics, economics and international relations in Southeast Asia, as well as China’s growing role and the contours of US-China strategic competition. He was formerly the director of the Southeast Asia programme at the Sydney-based Lowy Institute and has written two critically acclaimed books on Asian politics. He has a master’s in Southeast Asian studies from SOAS.

NORTH EAST ASIA: PROFESSOR ALESSIO PATALANO

Alessio is Professor of War & Strategy in East Asia at King’s College London where he specialises in maritime strategy and doctrine, Japanese military history and strategy, East Asian security, and British defence policy towards the Indo-Pacific. He is the Director of the King’s Japan Programme and the newly established IndoPacific Programme at the Centre for Grand Strategy. In 2022, Alessio became the first specialist advisor on the Indo-Pacific to the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

AUSTRALIA: SOPHIA GASTON

Sophia is a London-based foreign policy expert and a leading international researcher on strengthening the resilience of advanced liberal democracies in the 21st century. She is the Head of Foreign Policy and UK Resilience at the leading Westminster think tank, Policy Exchange. Sophia is also a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford and LSE; an Academic Fellow at the European Policy Centre in Brussels; and an Expert Associate at the College of National Security in Canberra.

CLOSING REMARKS

BRIGADIER JAMIE MURRAY

Jamie commissioned into Second Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles in 1998 and began his career in the jungles of Brunei. He has since spent some 18 years of his service in the Indo-Pacific region. In 2018 he led the British Defence Staff in Singapore, where he was responsible for representing UK Defence across South-East Asia. He was the UK’s non-resident Defence Attaché to Myanmar (Burma) during the genocide in 2018 and coup d’état in 2021 and was the first UK Defence Attaché to Cambodia in four decades.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL HUGO-STANFORD-TUCK

Hugo is the Commander of British Forces Brunei and 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles. He commissioned into the regiment in 2001 and went straight to Bosnia. The early years of his career saw deployments to Sierra Leone, Canada and Brunei. In 2004 he deployed to Iraq as a Multiple Commander and repeated deployments to Afghanistan followed. He undertook an Executive MBA at Warwick Business School whilst delivering transformational change projects within the Army.

NOTICES

SECURITY

In the case of a fire or another emergency, please make your way as directed to the rugby pitches. Proceed straight out of Akehurst Hall across the Victory Building car park towards the bridge whilst academy security staff deal with the situation.

FIRST AID AND EMERGENCIES

Should there be a requirement for first aid please contact a member of the event team who will ensure a qualified individual will be able to assist. In the event of a more serious emergency a member of staff will contact the permanent Academy staff who will arrange an escort for the necessary emergency services.

POST-EVENT MEDIA CONTENT

Following the event all panel discussions will be made available on Defence Connect.

TWITTER

To get involved, follow us on @CHACR_Camberley and use the #IndoPacific23 hashtag.

FURTHER READING

PLEASE GIVE YOUR FEEDBACK: