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| Established | 1962 |
|---|---|
Parent institution | Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy, King's College London |
| Head of Department | Matthew Moran |
Academic staff | 100 |
| Students | 1,000 |
| Location | Strand, London |
| Website | kcl.ac.uk/warstudies |
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The Department of War Studies (DWS) is an academic department in the School of Security Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy at King's College London in London, United Kingdom. Along with other politics and international studies units at King's College London, it ranks amongst the top places for international relations in the world.[1] For international relations in the UK, which is taught within the War Studies Department and the Department of European & International Studies, King's ranks second nationally.[2] The department is devoted to the multi-disciplinary study of war and diplomacy within the broad remit of international relations. It remains one of the only academic departments in the world that can be described as such.[3]
Senior government officials, members of the military, diplomats, journalists, academics, and entrepreneurs are among the department's graduates. Amongst them are former Prime Minister of Jordan Marouf al-Bakhit; Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov, the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Tom de Bruijn and former Commandant General Royal Marines Sir Robert Fry. The department is affiliated with numerous think-tanks and foreign policy institutions.[4] It also houses numerous research institutes and centres, including the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives.
It draws much of its faculty and visiting staff from the Euro-Atlantic intelligence, defence and diplomatic communities. They include former GCHQ chief David Omand; former foreign secretary Malcom Rifkind; former British ambassador to the US Nigel Sheinwald; ex-national security advisor Mark Lyall Grant; former head of MI6 John Sawers; and former chair of the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee Peter Ricketts.[5]
Since 2023, the Head of Department has been Matthew Moran. The Department of War Studies is located on the 6th floor of the Grade I listed King's Building on the Strand Campus of King's College London. It offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes and opportunities, as well as a unique three-year War Studies bachelor's degree.
- ^ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2013 – Politics & International Studies". topuniversities.com. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ "Best UK universities for international relations – league table". the Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ "About War Studies | Department of War Studies | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
- ^ King's College London – School of Social Science & Public Policy. Kcl.ac.uk (19 June 2013). Retrieved 20 July 2013.
- ^ "People | Department of War Studies | King's College London". www.kcl.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2023.