(Virtual) Global Britain – Polarisation, Grey Zone and Hybrid Conflict

As a graduate of Manchester University in Russian Studies and reserve officer in the British Army Intelligence Corps, Chris Donnelly helped to establish, and later headed, the British Army’s Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Between 1989-2003, as Special Adviser to four NATO Secretaries General, he was closely involved in dealing with the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the reform of the newly emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, helping to bring many of them into NATO. He left NATO in 2003 to set up and run the UK Defence Academy’s Advanced Research and Assessment Group. From 2010 to February of 2020 he was co-Director of The Institute for Statecraft, dealing with new security threats and responses – specifically, new forms of conflict and warfare and how to transform national institutions so that they are fit for today’s rapidly changing security environment. Chris Donnelly has written three books as well as many articles on questions of defence, security, strategy and statecraft. He has held appointments as Specialist Adviser to three UK Defence Secretaries (both Labour and Conservative) and was a member of PM Thatcher’s Soviet advisory team from 1983-9. During the past seven years he has served as Specialist Adviser both on the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee and on the Defence Committee. From 2015-8 he sat on the official team responsible for scrutinizing the current reform of the UK’s Reserve Forces for the Defence Secretary. Currently, he also: is adviser to the Foreign Minister of Lithuania; is Trustee of the London-based charity Forward Thinking, which undertakes reconciliation work in the Middle East and North Africa, and; serves as Honorary Colonel, Specialist Group Military Intelligence (SGMI).

Isabel Hilton OBE is founder and CEO of China Dialogue Trust, an independent media organisation devoted to creating a mutual understanding between China and the world, with a particular focus on climate change and the environment. The trust publishes five related websites in a total of eight languages. Isabel Hilton has a distinguished career as a writer and broadcaster, publishing in, among others, the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Sunday Times, the Independent, the Guardian, Granta, Prospect, the New Statesman, and on radio and television for the BBC. Educated in the UK and China, she holds two honorary doctorates, is a visiting professor at Kings College London and an honorary fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Lieutenant General Hockenhull was commissioned into the Intelligence Corps in 1986 after reading Politics at the University of York on a University Cadetship. His subsequent education includes a MA from Cranfield University and as a Visiting Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford. Staff tours include intelligence and strategic planning appointments. Operation tours include Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. In December 2018, he was appointed Chief of Defence Intelligence.

Miriam Howe is a lead security consultant with BAE Systems Applied Intelligence and has 20 year’s experience helping UK Government, Defence, and Policing organisations, to protect their information and operations against cyber attack. She also leads the Applied Intelligence portfolio on the National Cyber Mission, which includes international cyber capability building and resilience. Miriam has worked with all aspects of enterprise security, including work in critical national infrastructure, and with biometrics and emerging technologies. In recent years Miriam completed an MSc in International Security and has been studying evolving paradigms in cyberspace. She is engaged with government and industry discussions on building innovation, future skills and capacity within the UK and founded the Women in Cyber Security group within Applied Intelligence; focussed on the recruitment and retention of women within the cyber security industry.

Rob Joyce is the Special US Liaison Officer London (SUSLOL), the senior National Security Agency (NSA) cryptologic representative in the United Kingdom. Rob has worked at NSA since 1989, holding various leadership positions within key focus areas of NSA, including the Cybersecurity and Signals Intelligence missions. His previous position was the Senior Advisor for Cybersecurity Strategy to the NSA Director, following an assignment as the Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator at the White House, where he led the development of national and international cybersecurity strategy and policy for the United States and oversaw implementation of those policies. In addition to the Cybersecurity Coordinator role, Rob was the Acting Homeland Security Advisor, covering topics well beyond cybersecurity to include terrorism, health security and disaster response/recovery. From 2013 to 2017 Rob served as the Chief of Tailored Access Operations (TAO), providing tools and expertise in computer network exploitation to deliver foreign intelligence. Prior to becoming the Chief of TAO, Rob served as the Deputy Director of the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD) at NSA, leading efforts to harden, protect and defend the Nation's most critical National Security systems and improve cybersecurity for the nation.

Air Commodore Philip Lester is a reserve officer. He is currently Chief of Staff, Joint Force Development, where he leads Defence Experimentation through the Integrated Warrior Programme. He also assists a local authority with their response to the COVID pandemic as the Director of the Multi Agency Fusion Group. In his previous role he was Head Doctrine, Air, Space and Cyber at the United Kingdom’s Development, Concept and Doctrine Centre based at Shrivenham Station in Wiltshire. Operationally, Lester has seen service in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan and in specialist national counter-terrorism roles. He has commanded in every rank including operational tours in Iraq and was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in 2008. In staff appointments he has worked in HQ Air Command (2 Group, A5/7 and Capability Development), Headquarters of the Director of the Royal Armoured Corps, the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) and the UK Defence Academy. He has also served in 6 US headquarters: US EUCOM (Stuttgart), TF-EAGLE (Bagram), CJTF-76 (Bagram), CFC-A (Kabul), USAFE-UK (RAF Mildenhall) and CJFLCC (Baghdad/Mosul). He is a graduate of the Higher Command and Staff Course and is a member of the Royal College of Defence Studies.

Professor Michael Mainelli FCCA FCSI (Hon) FBCS, Executive Chairman, Z/Yen Group, is a qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant, educated at Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin. Michael gained his PhD at the London School of Economics where he was also a Visiting Professor of Innovation & IT. Michael is Emeritus Professor, Fellow, & Trustee at Gresham College where he created the London Finance initiative asking “when would we know our financial system is working?” His third book, The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions , won the Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize. Michael is an Alderman and Sheriff of the City of London 2019-2021.

Carl Miller is a technology author and researcher. His first book is The Death of the Gods: The New Global Power Grab. An examination of the new centres of power and control in the twenty-first century, it was published by Penguin Random House in August 2018. In 2012 he co-founded the first UK think tank institute dedicated to studying the digital world at DEMOS, and has written for the Economist, Wired, New Scientist, the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and the Guardian. He’s also a Visiting Research Fellow at King’s College London.

Madeleine Moon was an MP until 2019 and represented the Bridgend constituency in South East Wales at Westminster from 2005. She served on several select committees, joining the Defence Select Committee in 2009. During her time as a member, she chaired two sub-committees, producing reports on the safety and welfare of Armed Forces personnel on training exercises and defence in the Arctic. Madeleine was elected as President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in November 2018 and was a member of the UK Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from 2010, serving as a member of the Defence and Security Committee. Madeleine is playing an active role in the Cityforum defence work which has been supported by BAE Systems.

Sir David Omand GCB is a Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London and at PSIA Sciences Po in Paris. His government service included UK Security and Intelligence Coordinator in the Cabinet Office, Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, Director of GCHQ, Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Policy in the MOD and Principal Private Secretary of the Secretary of State for Defence. He is the Senior Independent Director of Babcock International Group plc and a senior adviser to Paladin Capital, investing in cybersecurity start-ups. He is the author of Securing the State (Hurst) 2010 and (with Professor Mark Phythian) Principled Spying: the Ethics of Secret Intelligence (OUP, 2018). His new book How Spies Think: 10 Lessons in Intelligence is published by Penguin Viking on 29 October 20.

Al Potter is Vice President and Managing Director, National Security and Defence of Leidos UK. Most recently, Al served as Managing Director of The Government Services Business Unit of Boeing UK and served on the Board of Boeing Defence UK. Al has also worked in a leadership capacity within National Security and Defence for companies such as Lockheed Martin and AgustaWestland over the last 14 years. Al served in the Royal Air Force for 23 years where he gained the rank of Squadron Leader. A notable career starting as a Non-Commissioned rear crew sensor operator on Nimrods before being commissioned as an officer and pilot flying Search and Rescue Helicopters. Here he completed over 400 Rescues and was awarded an Air Force Cross. A Qualified Helicopter Pilot Instructor, with just under 5000 hours flying experience, he went on to le ad the UK Search and Rescue training academy on return from an overseas deployment with US Forces on Enduring Freedom. He ended his service career as the Tri Service Desk Officer for rotary wing training in late 2006. Al is a recognised diversity champion having built very diverse team s and championing leadership development He has also acted as a mentor for many employees and often advises veterans leaving the services. In addition, Al is also a Trustee and Director of the Midlands Educational Trust, an Education Academy that runs four primary schools in the Malvern and Worcester area. He is married with grown up triplet daughters and is a (very young!) doting grandfather. He retains his Commercial Helicopter Pilots license and is also flying small fixed wing aircraft for pleasure. He is a DIY enthusiast and enjoys trips in his VW T6 Camper.

Malin Severin is a Swedish analyst currently seconded by the Swedish Defence Staff to the UK MOD’s think tank Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, DCDC. As part of the DCDC Futures Team she works with Strategic Foresight, covering trends and developments in Europe, Russia, as well as issues relating to the future of governance.
Prior to joining DCDC she worked at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, FOI, where her research focused on intelligence challenges in the context of Russian non-linear warfare. Malin’s policy-oriented research has sought to identify links between contemporary policy problems and lessons from history, specifically in the context of developing Sweden’s Total Defence concept. Malin has a background in journalism and political risk analysis, and has also worked at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, DC. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London where she is a member of the Centre for Grand Strategy. She holds master’s degrees in Political Science and Journalism from Uppsala and Lund University, as well as a Master of Arts in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London.

David Shimer is the author of Rigged: America, Russia, and One Hundred Years of Covert Electoral Interference (Knopf, June 2020). He is an Associate Fellow of Davenport College at Yale University, where he received his undergraduate and master's degrees in history, and is pursuing a doctorate in international relations at the University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar. His reporting and analysis have appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, and Foreign Affairs.

Paul Spedding has worked in the Defence and Security industry for over 35 years. A Mechanical Engineer, he started his career in Electro-Optics, where, as a board member, he led a re-shaping and subsequent divestment of the business before moving on to lead a global soldier modernisation business for a European defence company. He then joined a US owned company where he was instrumental in establishing a Middle Eastern JV to address domestic security and IT requirements. Paul was approached by BAE Systems Applied Intelligence in early 2015 and knowing nothing about Cyber and Digitalisation jumped at the chance to work for a British defence company helping the UK's defence, security and prosperity agenda. He is married with two children, loves the outdoors and has an old classic motorcycle to keep his mechanical engineering desires in check.

Air Marshal Edward Stringer is the Director General of Joint Force Development, and DG Defence Academy, within Joint Forces Command. For those familiar with military terminology he is the de facto ‘J7’ for the UK’s Military Strategic Headquarters. For those not so steeped, he owns the conceptual element of UK fighting power: concepts & doctrine, training & education, exercise & experimentation, lessons learned & innovation. Before that he was Assistant CDS (Operations) in the MOD in Whitehall, essentially the MOD’s operations director – from UK flood-relief to the Deterrent. Previously he had been ACAS, the RAF’s Assistant Chief, responsible for all policy interaction with MOD and for the RAF Board’s business. He arrived there from seeing the inside of the Pentagon as CDS’ Liaison Officer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. A previous Commandant Air Warfare Centre and head of RAF Intelligence he has had operational commands in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balkans. A one time Jaguar pilot and weapons instructor (QWI) he first saw action in the Gulf War in ’91 and in the no-fly zone (NFZ) operations that followed.

Graham Stuart was elected as the Member of Parliament for Beverley and Holderness in 2005. He joined the Department for International Trade in January 2018 as Minister for Investment. In February 2020 he was appointed Minister for Exports. Graham was born in Carlisle. He attended school in Scotland before going to Selwyn College, Cambridge to read philosophy and law. At Cambridge he chaired the Cambridge University Conservative Association, and founded ‘What’s On in Cambridge’ After university Graham developed a successful career in publishing, and was a member of Cambridge City Council from 1998 to 2004.

In Parliament Graham:
- chaired the Education Select Committee (2010 to 2015)
- was Assistant Government Whip with responsibility for the Department of Health, and - later for HM Treasury and the Ministry of Defence (2016 to 2018)

Catarina P. Thomson is Senior Lecturer in Security and Strategic Studies in the Politics Department of the University of Exeter. Her background is in clinical psychology and international relations. Her recent work compares the foreign policy attitudes of security elites and the general public in the UK, Europe, and the United States. Her work has been funded by the American National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Minerva Research Initiative, and the Economic and Social Research Council among others.

Francis Tusa has been a leading defence journalist and analyst for nearly 30 years. Having started working at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies in 1987, and there setting up the Middle East Defence programme, he has subsequently worked for a wide range of written and broadcast outlets including Sky News, CNN, the Guardian, and many BBC channels. Within the defence media, he worked as UK and then European Editor for Armed Forces Journal International, and has written Janes, Flight International, Defense News and Aviation Week and Space Technology, as well as numerous Asian/Middle East defence magazines. He set up his newsletter, Defence Analysis, in 1998, and it has become a unique resource for defence data, intelligence and analysis, providing unrivalled information on defence budgets, industrial budgets and politics, and global defence markets. Another first was setting up Military Logistics International, the first – and only - magazine devoted to defence support/logistics.