Oxford Strategic Studies Group

Oxford Strategic Studies Group OSSG is a non-partisan society devoted to the examination of strategic and international affairs through speaking events and wargames. https://linktr.ee/oussg_

The Oxford University Strategic Studies Group (OUSSG) was founded in 1969 under the aegis of military historian Professor Sir Michael Howard OM CH KBE MC. The central feature of our activities is a weekly Tuesday seminar, given under the Chatham House rule in All Souls College by distinguished practitioners and scholars from the academic, diplomatic, military, political, intelligence, business, and media fields.

For our second seminar this week, we are very excited to host Dr Carsten Nickel, a Managing Director at Teneo and Adjunc...
01/06/2026

For our second seminar this week, we are very excited to host Dr Carsten Nickel, a Managing Director at Teneo and Adjunct Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences Po.

He will be speaking on 'Global Business after the Liberal Order', discussing current business-relevant changes in the global order and how companies are responding to these changes from a risk analysis and scenario planning perspective.

This seminar will take place tomorrow, Tuesday 2nd June, at 8:30pm in the Old Library at All Souls College. There will be a drinks reception prior to the talk from 8pm.

Talks are £2 on the door for non-members and free for members. You can buy membership from our website, which is linked in our bio. We look forward to seeing you!

For our first seminar of the coming week, we are very excited to host Dr Patrick Cronin, Chair of Asia-Pacific Security ...
31/05/2026

For our first seminar of the coming week, we are very excited to host Dr Patrick Cronin, Chair of Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute and former Assistant Administrator for USAID, alongside Professor Audrey Cronin, Director and Trustees Professor at the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology.

They will be speaking on ‘Perspectives on Asia-Pacific Security, Technology and Terrorism’. The talk will include discussion of the strategic stability of the US-China relationship in the context of the recent Trump-Xi summit and Shangri-La dialogue.

This seminar will take place tomorrow on Monday 1st June at 8:00pm in the Lower Lecture Room at Lincoln College.

Before their seminar, we will also be having dinner with Patrick and Audrey Cronin at Gusto on the High Street at 6:15pm. Please ballot to join us using the link in our bio.

We look forward to seeing you!

We are very excited to host Captain René Cano, a serving U.S. naval officer and a Visiting Fellow at The Changing Charac...
22/05/2026

We are very excited to host Captain René Cano, a serving U.S. naval officer and a Visiting Fellow at The Changing Character of War Centre, who will be speaking on ‘The Transatlantic Hard Power Divide’.

This seminar will take place on Tuesday 26th May at 8:30pm in the Old Library at All Souls College. There will be a drinks reception prior to the talk from 8pm.

The transatlantic alliance is entering a period of growing strategic divergence as the U.S. and European countries are increasingly split on burden sharing, energy security, and the role of hard power in preserving international stability. René will examine how renewed great power competition is exposing fractures within the post-Cold War security architecture and raising fundamental questions about the future of NATO cohesion and deterrence. The consequences of transatlantic strategic divergence will shape the future of deterrence, Western security cooperation, and the durability of the international order in an emerging hard-power era.

Before his seminar, we will also be having dinner with René at Gusto on the High Street at 6.15pm. Please ballot to join us using the link in our bio.

Talks are £2 on the door for non-members and free for members. You can buy membership from our website, which is linked in our bio. We look forward to seeing you!

We look forward to you joining us for the remainder of our events this term!
22/05/2026

We look forward to you joining us for the remainder of our events this term!

We are very excited to host Bennett Freeman on ‘“Resource Imperialism” and US ForeignPolicy: Sovereignty, Accountability...
05/03/2026

We are very excited to host Bennett Freeman on ‘“Resource Imperialism” and US Foreign
Policy: Sovereignty, Accountability, Sustainability’ next week. The talk will take place on Tuesday (10th March) at 8.30 PM in the Old Library at All Souls College. There will be a drinks reception prior to the talk from 8 PM.

Bennett Freeman is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Studies at the University of California at Berkeley and an Associate Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance Program at Chatham House. Over the last 25 years of a four-decade career, Freeman has worked at the intersection of governments, international institutions, responsible investors, and civil society organizations to establish global standards and multi-stakeholder initiatives for corporate responsibility and accountability. Earlier in his career, he was Senior Vice President and served as a
Clinton presidential appointee at the US Department of State, including as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He earned an MA in Modern History from Oxford as a Churchill Scholar at Balliol College and an AB in History from the University of California at Berkeley.

A precis of the talk is as follows:
US intervention in Venezuela and intimidation of Greenland have elevated “resource
imperialism” and extraction as a dynamic geopolitical force. This session will address historical, political, and economic factors that are shaping competition and conflict, wealth
and power, in a ruptured international community. Gaps in the current debate related to governance will be highlighted against the backdrop of competing interests of sovereign
governments and their citizens, multinational corporations and their investors, and civil
society with its underappreciated ability to demand accountability. At stake is the legitimacy and sustainability of this drive for resources from oil to critical minerals, with people and planet overlooked factors that must be brought back into focus. Established international standards and initiatives offer pathways to diminish risk and enhance responsibility, even amidst continuing global turbulence.

Talks are £2 on the door for non-members and free for members. You can buy membership
from our website, which is linked in our bio.
We look forward to seeing you!

Main access to the Old Library is via a steep staircase. Arrangements can be made for those with limited mobility to use a stairlift and a Fellow’s room to gain access. Please let us know if you require this type of assistance.

Registration for our Airbus Helicopters HQ trip will open at 6pm on Monday (23rd February)! Register through the link in...
22/02/2026

Registration for our Airbus Helicopters HQ trip will open at 6pm on Monday (23rd February)! Register through the link in our bio.

The trip will take place on 2 March from 8.30am-1.30pm.
The visit will include:

• A session in the hangar, with a close-up look at helicopters operating in UK civil and defence roles

• A welcome and overview from the Managing Director of Airbus Helicopters UK

• A presentation by senior Airbus Helicopters stakeholders covering key programmes, Airbus Helicopters’ engagement and work in the UK, and the strategic importance of AH to the UK (and vice versa).

The trip is a fantastic opportunity to gain direct exposure to one of the UK’s leading aerospace organisations and engage with industry first-hand. We strongly encourage those who are interested in the strategic implications of the aerospace industry, and industry more generally, to sign up.

Places will be given on a first come first serve basis, with priority to members.

Transport costs for the trip will be reimbursed by OSSG, but a deposit will be required upon successful balloting.

The Oxford Strategic Studies Stash Drop is open now for 7 days only!!Order before 27th February 23.59 GMT.Items availabl...
20/02/2026

The Oxford Strategic Studies Stash Drop is open now for 7 days only!!

Order before 27th February 23.59 GMT.

Items available for purchase include puffer jackets, hoodies, rugby shirts, and caps. You can customise your initials on the products.

Order now through the link in our bio!

We are very excited to host Dr. Seyithan Ates on ‘When Civilian Tech Becomes Strategic Power: Dual-Use Technology Polici...
19/02/2026

We are very excited to host Dr. Seyithan Ates on ‘When Civilian Tech Becomes Strategic Power: Dual-Use Technology Policies in NATO and China’ next week. The talk will take place on Tuesday (24th February) at 8.30 PM in the Old Library at All Souls College. There will be a drinks reception prior to the talk from 8 PM.

Dr. Ates is a Professor of Economics and Innovation at the Ankara University of Social
Sciences. He earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Vienna University of Economics and completed his doctoral studies at the Vienna University of Technology. Previously, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, National Taiwan University, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

Currently, Dr. Ates is an affiliated Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Space Initiative (Saïd Business School) and the Changing Character of War Centre (Pembroke College). His research focuses on dual-use technologies within today’s evolving global security architecture, with a particular emphasis on NATO–China strategic competition. His work examines the key mechanisms driving dual-use innovations and technological spillovers between the military and civilian sectors in China and leading NATO countries (UK, USA, Türkiye). Furthermore, he analyzes how these mechanisms shape national competitiveness, alliance dynamics, and industrial strategy.

Talks are £2 on the door for non-members and free for members. You can buy membership
from our website, which is linked in our bio.

We look forward to seeing you!

We are very excited to host Sean Corbett CB MBE on ‘Grinding wars and sudden shocks: a2026 global security forecast’ nex...
13/02/2026

We are very excited to host Sean Corbett CB MBE on ‘Grinding wars and sudden shocks: a
2026 global security forecast’ next week. The talk will take place on Tuesday (17th February)
at 8.30 PM in the Old Library at All Souls College. There will be a drinks reception prior to the talk from 8 PM.

Sean Corbett CB MBE is the founder and CEO of IntSight Global Ltd, a management
consultancy within the security sector for government and commercial organisations with a focus on earth observation. Corbett retired from the Royal Air Force as Air Vice-Marshal in September 2018 after a 30-year career as a professional intelligence officer. On his departure from the RAF, he established a Defence, Security and Intelligence Directorate within a ‘new
space’ geospatial intelligence company, Earth-i. In his time in the military, Corbett served
tours of duty in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, the Balkans, Libya, West
Africa and Central America. He has commanded at every rank level, leading and
transforming large complex organisations, including as Commander of the Joint Service
Signals Organisation, as the Head of Intelligence at the UK’s Permanent Joint Headquarters and as the Chief of UK Intelligence in Afghanistan.

Talks are £2 on the door for non-members and free for members. You can buy membership
from our website, which is linked in our bio.
We look forward to seeing you!

Main access to the Old Library is via a steep staircase. Arrangements can be made for those with limited mobility to use a stairlift and a Fellow’s room to gain access. Please let us know if you require this type of assistance.

Address

Oxford

Website

,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Oxford Strategic Studies Group posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The University

Send a message to Oxford Strategic Studies Group:

Shortcuts

Share