We are welcoming Professor Christopher Coker (Professor of International Relations and Director of IDEAS at the LSE) who will be talking on ‘WHY WAR?’

Throughout history, war seems to have had an iron grip on humanity. In his talk, internationally renowned philosopher of war, Prof Christopher Coker, challenges the view that war is an idea that we can cash in for an even better one – peace. War, he argues, is central to the human condition; it is part of the evolutionary inheritance which has allowed us to survive and thrive. New technologies and new geopolitical battles may transform the face and purpose of war in the 21st century, but our capacity for war remains undiminished. The inconvenient truth is that we will not see the end of war until it exhausts its own evolutionary possibilities.

Christopher Coker is Professor of International Relations at the LSE and Director of IDEAS, LSE’s foreign policy think tank.  His most recent books are The Rise of the Civilizational State (2019); Rebooting Clausewitz (2017); Future War (2015); The Improbable War: China, the US and the continuing logic of Great Power conflict (2014).  He is a former twice serving member of the Council of the Royal United Services Institute, a former NATO Fellow and a regular lecturer at Defence Colleges in the US, UK, Rome, Singapore and Tokyo.

This talk is open to all visiting pupils, staff and parents and is suited to yrs 10 and 11 and sixth form students.

If you would like to attend please use the ‘Book Now’ button letting us know the names of those who will be coming and we can send you further details.