Annual General Meeting and Lord Denman Memorial Lecture 2025
16 July 2025 17.30 BST at the SCI Belgravia, London and online.
RSAA members and their guests only.
We are delighted to have, as our speaker, Dr Rob Johnson who will deliver a lecture on the topic of War and Decision Dilemmas: The Long View for Asia from Lawrence to Li
The aspirations of T E Lawrence (‘of Arabia’) and Chinese Premier Li Qiang stand at opposite ends of a civilisational world view, separated by one hundred years, but their observations about Asia have common themes. The current dilemmas in Asia are too often examined superficially in the media and a more rigorous analysis is required, not least because of the wars and confrontations that threaten balance and security across the region. Examining the phenomena of the continent in terms of six themes, namely entropy, impulse, reaction, radicalism, the catalysts, and war, Dr Johnson will present ways that we may approach the challenges facing the continent and outline the decisions required over the long term.
Dr Johnson is the Director of the Strategy, Statecraft, and Technology: Changing Character of War research centre at Oxford University. He was the first Director of the UK’s Office of Net Assessment at the UK Ministry of Defence.
Dr Johnson brings together academics, industry, and defence personnel in the study of a variety of research themes including war and the state in a connected world, hostile state and non-state actors, futures, macro-economics, statecraft, and deterrence. Dr Johnson’s primary research interests are twofold: how we conceive of future conflict environments through studies of the past; and strategic leadership. He acts as an academic support to professional military education in NATO and is currently assisting in the development of Net Assessment across NATO member states and its partners.
Dr Johnson has authored a number of books including Lawrence of Arabia on War (2021), The Great War and the Middle East (2016), and The Afghan Way of War: A Strategic Study (2011).
