The War and the State Research Network (WSRN) seeks to provide a new understanding of the relationship between war and the liberal democratic state.

Bringing together scholars from Cornell University, King’s College London, University College London, and Queen Mary, University of London, the WSRN will ask: what is war? What is the nature of the violence it entails? What are the boundaries between the legitimate and illegitimate use of force?

As a multi-disciplinary research network, the WSRN draws on expertise in war studies, history, political thought, philosophy, and culture. Alongside traditional operational histories of war, it explores race and gender hierarchies, divisions of labour, conceptions of citizenship and the role of technology in impacting the relationship between war and the state.

Reflecting this multi-disciplinary approach, the WSRN brings together scholars from departments of History, War Studies, Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Defence Studies, and the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War.

The network is generously funded through the Cornell-King’s Global Strategic Collaboration Awards and the Cornell-UCL Global Strategic Collaboration Awards.