Sir Lawrence David Freedman, (born 7 December 1948) is a British academic, historian and author with specialising in foreign policy, international relations and strategy. He has been described as the "dean of British strategic studies" and was a member of the

Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)War Studies at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Life

Freedman was educated at

Whitley Bay Grammar School Whitley may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom *Whitley, Berkshire, a suburb of Reading *Whitley, Cheshire, a village near Warrington *Whitley, Coventry, a suburb of Coventry, West Midlands *Whitley, Essex, near Birdbrook * Whitley, Wigan, Greater M ...

, the University of Manchester (BA),

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

(BPhil), and University of Oxford, where he was a student of

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer co ...

( Fellow 1974–75) and the Faculty of Social Studies. His DPhil thesis, submitted in 1975, was ''The definition of the Soviet threat in strategic arms decisions of the United States: 1961–1974''. He also then held a part-time lectureship at Balliol College.

Career

Freedman held positions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) before he was appointed, in 1982, Professor of War Studies at King's College London. He was head of the department until 1997. In 2000, he was the first head of the college's School of Social Science and Public Policy. From 2003 to December 2013, he was a Vice Principal at King's College London. He retired from King's in December 2014. He was appointed a Fellow of the college in 1992. He was appointed a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford in the

Blavatnik School of Government The Blavatnik School of Government is a school of public policy founded in 2010 at the University of Oxford in England. The School was founded following a £75 million donation from a business magnate Leonard Blavatnik, supported by £26 million ...

in 2015. Freedman contributed to the preparation of the 1999 Chicago speech in which Tony Blair set out the 'Blair doctrine'. Freedman was the official historian of the

Falklands campaign The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...

, and author of ''The Official History of the Falklands Campaign'', published in two volumes (London: Routledge, 2006). Freedman's principal areas of interest include contemporary defence and foreign policy issues. He has written extensively on nuclear strategy and the cold war, as well as commentating regularly on contemporary security issues, and provides book reviews for ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

''. His recent books include an Adelphi Paper on ''The Revolution in Strategic Affairs'', an edited book on Strategic Coercion, an illustrated book on the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, a collection of essays on British defence policy, and ''Kennedy's Wars'' that covers the major crises of the early 1960s over Berlin, Cuba, and Vietnam. ''Kennedy's Wars'' was a Silver Medal Winner of the Arthur Ross Prize, awarded by the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

in New York City. In addition, a book on deterrence was published in 2004. ''A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East'' (New York: PublicAffairs, 2008), won the 2009 Lionel Gelber Prize and the 2009

Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature The Duke of Westminster's Medal for Military Literature was awarded by the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, (the RUSI), Whitehall, London. Awarded annually from 1997 to 2016, the Medal was given to honour a living au ...

. ''Strategy: A History'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013) was named as one of the best books of 2013 by the '' Financial Times'' and was awarded the W J McKenzie Book Prize by the Political Studies Association.

Honours and awards

Freedman was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

in 1995 and appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1996 and

Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III. It is named in honour ...

in 2003. In January 2006, he was awarded the Chesney Gold Medal by the Royal United Services Institute (

RUSI Rusi or RUSI may refer to: Places in Romania * Ruși River, Romania * Ruși, a district in the town of Zlatna, Alba County * Ruși, a village in Bretea Română, Hunedoara County * Ruși, a village in Slimnic, Sibiu County * Ruși, a village in ...

) to mark a lifelong distinguished contribution in the defence and international security fields. The citation read: His other awards include Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Security Studies Section of the US International Studies Association (2007) and the first George G Bell Award for strategic studies leadership from the Canadian International Council (2008). He was made a member of the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...

when appointed to the

Iraq Inquiry The Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the Chilcot Inquiry after its chairman, Sir John Chilcot)Judith Freedman Judith Freedman, Lady Freedman , is a British solicitor and academic. Freedman is the Pinsent Masons Professor of Taxation Law and Policy at the University of Oxford and senior research fellow at Worcester College. She was the inaugural profess ...

, Pinsent Masons Professor of Taxation Law and a Fellow of Worcester College at Oxford University. They have two children, Ruth and Sam. Sam is an education policy expert who was a Senior Policy Advisor to the then Secretary of State for Education

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...

from 2010 to 2013 and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government.

Selected publications

*''War, strategy, and international politics: essays in honour of

Sir Michael Howard Sir Michael Eliot Howard (29 November 1922 – 30 November 2019) was an English military historian, formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of All Souls College, Regius Professor of Modern History at the University ...

'' edited by Robert O'Neill, Lawrence Freedman, and

Paul Hayes Paul Edward Hayes (born 20 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer who works as director of football for Isthmian League Premier Division side Bowers & Pitsea. As a player he was a forward who made more than 500 appearance ...

(1992); *Freedman, Lawrence D.
The Special Relationship, then and now
. ''

''. May/June 2006. *Freedman, Lawrence (2013). ''Strategy: A History''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. . *Freedman, Lawrence (2017). ''The Future of War: A History''. New York: Public Affairs. * *Freedman, Sir Lawrence (2019). ''Ukraine and the Art of Strategy''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. *Freedman, Lawrence (2022). ''Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

References

External links

Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman home page

Lawrence Freedman
videos on

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