“This report was an opportunity for scholars across the Department of War Studies and Defence Studies Department to come together as a community by contributing to a topical issue. This was also to confirm that King's scholars are on the top of current events and can use their conceptual and historical tools to provide a tangible analysis of events as they happen"
Dr Zeno Leoni
21 March 2023
School of Security Studies launches publication 'War in Ukraine: One Year On'
The online publication 'War in Ukraine: One Year On' features seventeen contributions by a diverse group of scholars from the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, offering insights into the past year and the future implications for world order.
The journal, which was launched by the School’s Centre for Grand Strategy a year after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, covers topics from Putin’s intelligence capabilities, to how much the conflict has affected food prices around the globe and whether Russia's global influence will continue to decline.
The contributors, including professors, research staff, PhD students, former practitioners, and alumni, addressed questions about what had changed since the invasion and what future trends in respect to the war and global security were likely to emerge. Their perspectives provide valuable insights into the geopolitical landscape and the challenges governments face worldwide.
Dr Zeno Leoni, Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department and one of the editors of the publication, emphasised the significance of the war in Ukraine, its impact spanning across various fields "from warfighting to world order."
Dr Maeve Ryan, Senior Lecturer in History and Grand Strategy and co-editor of the journal, highlighted that the publication contributes to a critical moment of stock-taking and reflection that the anniversary of the invasion represents, exploring the scale of what has changed as a result of Russian aggression, the significance of what Ukraine has achieved in resisting that aggression, the challenges that lie ahead, and the stakes involved in fighting for the survival of the sovereign state of Ukraine.
"Between February and November 2022, King's experts were cited in over 36,398 articles, including nearly 1,000 print articles and over 4,000 broadcast pieces. King's experts have also emerged as prominent and internationally trusted sources of rapid, responsive analysis via social media, helping international observers make sense of the war's operational, economic, political, legal, humanitarian, and other dimensions; and offering expert evaluations of wider implications affecting regional and global order. For this reason, my co-editors, Zeno Leoni, Gesine Weber and I wanted to mark the war’s first anniversary by convening an exceptional group of King’s scholars and asking them to reflect on the year. […] The result has been an exceptional volume of contributions, offering concise and focused analysis on diverse and important elements of the war and its wider effects"
Dr Maeve Ryan
Dr Martin Bricknell, Professor in Conflict, Health and Military Medicine and contributor to the journal, used his article to document the significant military and civilian causalities caused by the war, the physical and mental injury burden, and its destructive impact on Ukraine’s healthcare system, which he argues requires considerable investment in money and human capital.
"The number of military casualties on both sides exceeds 200,000 killed or wounded, and there is considerable uncertainty about equivalent numbers for civilians. There has also been considerable destruction and disruption to the Ukrainian health system, with the demand for trauma care reducing access to care for other urgent care, such as cancer and chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. […] Whilst it is important to consider the geopolitical implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we must not lose sight of the immediate human consequences of the war"
Professor Martin Bricknell
The journal's launch was marked at King’s with a talk and Q&A session led by some authors.
Read the publication here.
In this story
Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department
Reader in History and Foreign Policy
Professor in Conflict, Health and Military Medicine