War Studies Working Group at #BISA2025
The War Studies Working Group is thrilled to have another 21 events at this year's BISA annual conference. Find out more details below. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
Wednesday 18 June
09:00 - 10:30am - WE18 Roundtable / Arts and Conflict: Bodies, Landscapes, and Generations
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Chair: Pauline Zerla
Participants: Marianna Patat (King's College London) , Rachel Kerr (King's College London) , Henry Redwood (King's College London), Lydia Cole (University of Sussex) , James Gow (King's College London)
09:00 - 10:30 - WE18 Panel / From War to Peace: The Politics of the Troubles
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Michael Cox (LSE)
Chair: Michael Cox (LSE)
• The Consequences of Britain’s Longest War
Author: Martin Thorp (Loughborough University)
• ‘Reflections on How Wars End’
Author: Caroline Kennedy-Pipe (Loughborough University)
• ‘Integrating education in the Shadow of War’
Author: Fiona Stephen (LSE)
• Lessons for another place: From Belfast to Seoul
Author: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
10:45 – 12:15 - WE18 Roundtable / Revolution Vs Evolution: Debating Technology and the Character of War
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Chair: Caroline Kennedy-Pipe (University of Loughborough)
Participants: Mike Williams (Syracuse University) , Neil Cooper (Kent State University) , James Patton Rogers (Cornell University) ,Jean-Francois Belanger , Anthony King (University of Exeter)
1:15 - 2:45pm - WE18 Conference event / Michael Cox War Studies keynote - Belfast Days: Teaching War - Living Peace, 1972-1995
Speaker: Michael Cox (LSE)
1:15 - 2:45pm - WE18 Panel / War and the Lessons of History
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
Chair: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
• Weaponizing Science: Analysing the Context and Motivations of State-Sponsored Chemical and Biological Warfare Programs through the Study of Project Coast
Author: Naomi Rio (University of Hamburg)
• Cold War Memory and Contemporary Chinese Foreign Policy : between historical learning and rejecting “Cold War mentality”
Author: Stephanie Winkler (Goethe University Frankfurt & Stockholm University)
• The Serbian and Bosnian War (1992-1995): An Analysis of the Core Issue that resulted in the conflict
Authors: Alisha Ghumman (Forman Christian College (A Chartered University))* , Maha Cheema (Forman Christian College, University, Lahore)* , Ayesha Ghumman (Forman Christian College ( A Chartered University))
• What can we learn from war?
Author: Brianna Meaney
• How to cooperate with a dictator: lessons from Great Britain and Fascist Italy
Author: Jessi Gilchrist (King's College London)
1:15 - 2:45pm - TH19 Panel / War in Ukraine: New Interpretations
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Mike Williams (Syracuse University)
Chair: Mike Williams (Syracuse University)
• From Chechnya to Ukraine: Russian use of indigenous forces for post-conflict security
Author: Alex Crockett (Durham University)
• Understanding food warfare in Ukraine
Authors: Simone Papale (University of Parma) , Emanuele Castelli (University of Parma)
• Gender Hierarchies During and After War: Does Women's Presence in Armed Groups Affect Women's Empowerments? (a comparative analysis of the UK, Ukraine, and Colombia)
Authors: Yevgeniia Gnatchenko (University of East Anglia) , Ulrike Theuerkauf (University of East Anglia)
• Serbian Foreign Fighters and the War in Ukraine: Ideology, Solidarity and Digital Kinship
Author: Goran Tepšić (University of Belgrade - Faculty of Political Science)
3:00 - 4:30pm - WE18 Panel / Conflict in South America: Trends and Developments
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Tara Zammit (Kings College London)
Chair: Tara Zammit (Kings College London)
• Translating warfare: doctrinal translation and the diffusion of military innovations
Authors: Raphael C. Lima (King’s College London (KCL)) , Mariana Janot (São Paulo State University - UNESP)
• Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Future Warfare in the Brazilian Armed Forces
Author: Jonathan de Assis (Instituto de Políticas Públicas e RelaçõesInternacionais (IPPRI-Unesp))
• From Patriot to Profiteer: Unveiling the Allure of Mercenary Life for Colombia's Veteran Warriors
Author: Chelsea Thorpe (University of Cambridge)
• Moral Order, Social Transformation, and the Logic of Anti-LGBT Violence during Colombia’s Paramilitary Incursion
Author: Samuel Ritholtz (University of Oxford)
3:00 - 4:30pm - WE18 Panel / The Russo-Ukrainian War and Beyond
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
Chair: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
Discussant: Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
• The weaponisation of artificial intelligence in the Ukraine war
Author: Hermione Spencer (Loughborough University)
• The wider implications of the Ukraine war on the High North region
Author: Harry Macnamara (Loughborough University)
• Privatised warfare: Investigating private contractors in Ukraine
Author: Felix Aubock (Loughborough University)
• Psychological trauma on the battlefields of Ukraine
Author: Martin Thorp (Loughborough University)
4:45 - 6:15pm - WE18 Panel / New Technology and Military Innovation
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Joe Murphy (The University of Edinburgh)
Chair: Joe Murphy (The University of Edinburgh)
• Military models: a conceptual framework for the diffusion of military innovations
Author: Raphael Lima (King’s College London (KCL))
• Weaponizing Social Media and Internet by Hamas: A Non-Kinetic and Digital Response to American Foreign Policy in the Middle East
Author: Maryam Nazir
• War in Hands: A Digital Proxy Warfare Perspective
Author: Mudassir Farooqi (Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Pakistan)
• Anthropomorphic warbots and artificial humanity
Author: Christian Enemark (University of Southampton)
• The Future of War Is Not Remote: Great Power Competition, Remote Warfare, and War in the Indo-Pacific
Author: Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University)
Thursday 19 June
09:00 - 10:30am - TH19 Roundtable / Engaging Defence and Security policy through different stages of academic careers
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Chair: Patrick Finnegan (University of Lincoln)
Participants: Alex Neads (University of Durham) , Kristen Harkness (University of St Andrews) , Patrick Finnegan (University of Lincoln) , Meredith Loken (University of Amsterdam) , Amy Mumby (University of Lincoln)
10:45 - 12:15pm - TH19 Roundtable / Relationality in civil war: Toward a research agenda
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Chair: Anastasia Shesterinina (The University of York)
Participants: Silvia Carenzi (Scuola Normale Superiore) , Tiina Hyyppä (University of Helsinki) , Finn Klebe (University College London) ,Johanna Söderström (Uppsala University) , Jenny Hedström (Swedish Defense University) , Hanna Ketola (Newcastle)
10:45 -12:15pm - TH19 Panel / The Politics of Human-Machine Interaction in Military Technologies
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Conveners: Anna Nadibaidze (Center for War Studies, University of Southern Denmark) , Bibi Imre-Millei , Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University) , Emil Archambault (School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham)
Chair: Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University)
Discussant: Natasha Karner (RMIT University)
• Peacekeeper, Warfighter: Perception of Canadian Military Identity and Ethical Reflections on Military Drone Use
Author: Bibi Imre-Millei
• Human-Machine Visuality and Representations of War
Author: Emil Archambault (School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham)
• War Reimagined? US Strategic Culture, Artificial Intelligence, and Great Power Competition
Author: Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University)
1:15 - 2:45pm - TH19 Roundtable / Science Fiction, Sociotechnical Imaginaries and Future war – New Avenues for IR Research?
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Chair: Duncan Depledge (Loughborough University)
Participants: Mark Lacy (Lancaster University) , Qiaochu Zhang (University of Southern Denmark) , Samo Zilincik , Tom Watts (Royal Holloway University) , Linda Ruppert (University of Freiburg)
3:00 - 5:00pm - Conference event / Publishing in War and Security Studies: Sponsored by War Studies
Speakers: Prof. Andrew Mumford (University of Nottingham), Caroline Kennedy-Pipe (University of Loughborough), James Patton Rogers (Cornell), Michael Williams (University of Ottawa), Wooyun Jo (Loughborough University)
Friday 20 June
09:00 - 10:30am - FR20 Panel / Technological Trends and Future War
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Neil Cooper (Kent State University)
Chair: Neil Cooper (Kent State University)
• Emerging technologies that catalyse the civilianisation of warfare: evidence of ongoing normative transformations from Ukraine
Author: Joe Murphy (The University of Edinburgh)
• The French Army transitions to 'High Intensity' Warfare: Strengths, Drawbacks, and Challenges of French Ambitions.
Author: Lucie Pebay (University of Bath)
• Invisible frontlines: cyber operations in Iran's military strategy
Author: Eugenio Lilli
• ‘The Digital Battlefield as a New Battle Space’
Author: David Galbreath (University of Bath)
• Open-Source Investigations and the Visualisation of Mass Violence
Author: Emil Archambault (School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham)
09:00 - 10:30am FR20 Panel / The Troubles: A regional perspective
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Hannah West (Anglia Ruskin University)
Chair: Hannah West (Anglia Ruskin University)
• The regional nuances in ambiguity and confidentiality during the Northern Ireland Peace Process
Author: Eleanor Williams (Dublin City University)
• Geographical reputation and operational reality: testing myths and opinions from the Troubles
Author: Patrick Finnegan (University of Lincoln)
• Policewomen across the Province: Mapping regional dimensions to the Troubles
Author: Hannah West (Anglia Ruskin University)
• A Geography of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) in Urban Areas of Northern Ireland: Comparative PIRA Violence in Belfast and Derry, 1970-1975.
Author: Robert Taylor (Cardiff University)
• De-and re-bordering Northern Ireland: how Cross-border Cooperation Intertwines Spatial and Institutional Patterns of Exclusion and Inclusion, Subordination and Horizontality
Author: Giada Lagana (Cardiff University)
10:45 - 12:15pm - FR20 Panel / Civil Wars and Non-State Actors
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: James Rodgers (Cornell University)
Chair: Harry MacNamara
• Band of Believers?:The Influence of Religion on Rebel Group Cohesion
Author: Jason Klocek (University of Nottingham)
• Legacies of War and New Visions of Peace
Author: Kathrin Bachleitner (University of Salzburg)
• Narratives of Repatriation: a comparative analysis of the construction of foreign fighter policy
Author: Nicola Mathieson (University of Liverpool)
• Blood Money: Unraveling the Organizational Ecology of Mercenary Groups in Civil Wars
Author: Chelsea Thorpe (University of Cambridge)
• Transnational Paramilitaries and the Emergence of New Inter-State Wars in the Middle East
Author: Yaniv Voller (University of Kent)
10:45 - 12:15pm - FR20 Panel / Splintered Realities and Digital War: Infrastructures of Conflict and Community ¶
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Matthew Ford (Swedish Defence University)
Chair: Shane BRIGHTON (Queen's University Belfast)
Discussant: Shane BRIGHTON (Queen's University Belfast)
• Fighting and Living the Epic War: How Russians Resist Fragmentation and Individuation in Online Spaces
Author: Ian Garner (Pilecki Institute, Warsaw)
• Inventive digital witnessing during Russia’s war in Ukraine
Author: Miglė Bareikytė (European New School of Digital Studies)
• Infrastructures of Knowing: Citizen Epistemic Agency in the Digital Spaces of War
Author: Tanya Lokot (Dublin City University)
• Infrastructures of knowing and its implications for military targeting
Author: Matthew Ford (Swedish Defence University)
1:15 - 2:45pm - FR20 Panel / Partisans and Rebels
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Afzal ashraf (Loughborough University)
Chair: Afzal ashraf (Loughborough University)
• Temporal and Spatial Dimensions of Rebel Legitimacy
Authors: Adrian Florea , Sukanya Podder (King’s College London)
• My Agent’s Agent: Principal Agent Theory and the problem of local indigenous security forces
Author: Alex Crockett (Durham University)
• Participatory Rebel Governance and Public Opinion on Civil War Interventions
Author: Hyunjung Park (University of York)
• Rebel Governance in the Italian Civil War: The Case of the Partisans’ Republics in 1944
Author: Edoardo Corradi (University of Genoa)
3:00-4:30pm FR20 Panel / Doctrine & Strategy
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Martin Thorp (Loughborough University)
Chair: Martin Thorp (Loughborough University)
• Soldier, State and Industry: Interest-Driven Dynamics of French Transformation
Author: Lucie Pebay (University of Bath)
• Mind the Civil-Military Gap: Comparing Responses to Military Recruitment Crises in the UK and Ireland
Authors: Patrick Finnegan (University of Lincoln) , Alex Neads (University of Durham)
• Parallel Military Control Structures in Afghanistan
Author: Stephen Grenier (Johns Hopkins University)
• Clausewitz, Trump, and the "American Way of War" in the 2020s.
Author: Christopher Macallister (University of Hull)
• Digital Memory, Radicalization of Archives, and the Question of Collective Memory in the Digital Age
Authors: Muhmmad Younis (Department of Political Science, Forman Christian College University) , Mudassir Farooqi (Forman Christian College (A Chartered University), Pakistan)
4:45 - 6:15pm - FR20 Panel / Military Assistance and Alliance Building
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Marissa Martin
Chair: Marissa Martin
• Canada-UK defence & security agreements: critical case or copy-paste
Author: Anessa Kimball (Université Laval, political science)
• The problematic association between foreign military assistance and increased terrorist attacks in recipient nations
Author: Aoife McCullough (London School of Economics)
• The meaning of military assistance: creating value during security (force) assistance activities
Author: Alex Neads (University of Durham)
• Do Principles Become Agents? Security Assistance between cooptation and orchestration
Author: Jean-Marie Reure (University of Genoa, DISPI)
4:45 -6:15pm - FR20 Panel / Why Wars Occur and How They End?
Sponsor: War Studies Working Group
Convener: Alexandra Bin-Ta
Chair: Alexandra Bin-Ta
• When Do Defeated Aggressors Initiate Revanchist Wars? An Outline of Revanchism Theory
Author: Mateusz Ambrożek (Vistula University)
• The Cycle of War Legitimization: A Dynamic Approach to Justifying Wars in the 21st Century
Author: Ioan-Mihai Alexandrescu (Babeș-Bolyai University)
• Rising Powers and Revisionism: Subordinate Monopolization and Major Power Conflict
Author: Patrick Gill-Tiney (LSE)
• Audience Cost for Conflict Escalation after Pledging Restraint: Evidence from Survey Experiment in China
Author: Enze Han (The University of Hong Kong)
• Gripen, Gretas and Green Militarism: Challenging the Military Green Transition
Author: Nico Edwards (University of Sussex)