RUSI Land Warfare Conference 2025

Guy Anderson

Head of Country Intelligence Data - Defence Markets, Janes

Guy Anderson is head of defence markets and economics within Janes; the global agency for open-source defence intelligence. ​He has 20 years’ experience analysing and advising on defence trade with a particular emphasis on the markets of Europe, Russia and the CIS. ​ 

A specialist in defence offset and countertrade, he has studied and lectured on the subject at the École Supérieure de Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) in Paris and continues to speak and lecture internationally on defence trade practices. ​ 

Guy holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree with economics and finance from the University of Sussex, UK.

Oleksandra Azarkhina

Co-Founder of the We Build Ukraine Foundation.

A native of temporarily occupied Crimea, Oleksandra, born the same year as Independent Ukraine, is part of a society that perceives state-building and the preservation of Ukrainian statehood as a personal matter.

Since the victory of the Revolution of Dignity (2013-2014), Oleksandra has worked on projects of public importance, including the creation and development of public broadcasting in Ukraine, and the development and communication of reforms in agro-industry, natural resources, infrastructure, and, since the full-scale invasion, defense.

For the past five years, Oleksandra has worked in the Government, serving as Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine from 2022 to 2024. Her portfolio included, among other things, the protection of critical transport infrastructure and the organization of military logistics from abroad.

From the first days of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandra’s work was critical in organizing the logistics hub in Poland and later in establishing the International Donors Coordination Cell (IDCC) in Stuttgart. Until May 2024, Oleksandra was a key advisor to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov during his tenure as a member of Stavka (the Military Office of the President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief Zelensky).

Following her government tenure, she co-founded the independent think tank, We Build Ukraine Foundation (WBUF), alongside several former colleagues. WBUF aims to transform Ukraine’s economy by facilitating reforms and investments in key sectors, primarily Mining, Agriculture, Energy, Construction, and Defense Industries.

Ned Baker

Managing Director, Helsing UK

Ned is Managing Director of Helsing UK and leads our Ukraine operations. He spent fifteen years in His Majesty’s Diplomatic Service, with extensive experience in national security roles, including postings to Afghanistan and Copenhagen. Ned brings deep expertise in geo-politics, diplomacy, defence, and the latest developments in modern conflict, which he is now applying to Helsing's own operations.

Emma Beals

Senior Advisor, European Institute of Peace

Emma Beals is the Founder/Director of NTL a policy action lab, she is also a Senior Advisor at the European Institute of Peace in Brussels and an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. She has worked on Syria throughout the entire conflict and nascent recovery and is presently writing a book about contemporary conflict resolution.

Brigadier Ed Cartwright OBE

British Army

Brigadier Ed Cartwright commissioned into The Parachute Regiment in 2002 and commanded a rifle platoon during the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Two tours of Northern Ireland followed, the first with The Parachute Regiment, the second on attachment to The Royal Irish Regiment. 

From 2006, he commanded on operations during three tours of Iraq and two in Afghanistan. In 2014 he commanded on operations in northern Iraq for which he was awarded the OBE. He went on to command a specialist regiment and most recently spent 12 months on operations in eastern Europe.

On the staff, Ed has served as the Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff, and in Media Operations and Plans in the Ministry of Defence. 

He studied Geography at Oxford University and gained a Masters in International Relations and Security Studies from King’s College London as part of the Advanced Command and Staff College.

Malcolm Chalmers

Deputy Director-General, RUSI

Professor Malcolm Chalmers is Deputy Director-General of RUSI and directs its growing portfolio of research into contemporary defence and security issues.

His own work is focused on UK defence, foreign and security policy. His most recent papers have been on national interest and UK foreign policy, tensions between the rules-based international systems, UK defence budgeting, and the security implications of Brexit.

Chalmers has been an Adviser to Parliament’s Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy since 2012, and was Senior Special Adviser to Foreign Secretaries Jack Straw MP and Margaret Beckett MP.

Rachel Ellehuus

Director-General, RUSI

Rachel Ellehuus became Director-General of RUSI on 6 January 2025.

Rachel joined RUSI after serving nearly three years at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as the United States Secretary of Defense Representative in Europe and Defense Advisor to the United States’ Mission to NATO.

Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of the Europe and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC and a Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors. Previously, she served in multiple roles in the U.S. Department of Defense to include Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy. Her time in the Pentagon also included an exchange to the UK Ministry of Defence's Strategy Unit, where she worked on the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Rachel has numerous publications to her name, most recently Europe’s High-End Military Challenges (2022) and The Challenge of Political Will in Europe (2022). She holds a BA from Colgate University and a MA from the College of Europe.

Dr Jonathan Eyal

Associate Director, Strategic Research Partnerships, and International Director, RUSI

Dr Eyal is the Associate Director, Strategic Research Partnerships, and International Director, at the Royal United Services Institute.

He was born in Romania, but has lived most of his life in Britain. Educated at Oxford and London Universities, his initial training was in International Law and Relations, in which he obtained both his first degree and his Master's with a Distinction. His Doctorate, completed at Oxford in 1987, analysed relations between ethnic minorities in Eastern Europe since the end of the First World War.

After teaching at Oxford for three years, Dr Eyal was appointed a researcher at RUSI. Since 1990, Dr Eyal has been Director of Studies at the Institute, and also serves as a Senior Research Fellow and Editor of the RUSI Newsbrief .

Dr Eyal has completed books on military expenditure in the former Warsaw Pact and published a study on military relations in the Balkans during the time of Communism. He is a regular commentator on East European affairs for The Guardian, The Independent, The Times dailies and the Observer newspaper on Sundays.

He has also given evidence to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee on the conduct of British foreign policy in Eastern Europe, and the teams of experts which contributed to the peace plans for the former Yugoslavia. He has acted as an adviser to the European Union's studies on the process of dividing the assets of the former Yugoslav state, and has published two studies on the errors committed by the West in handling the Balkan conflict since 1991.

He is fluent in English, French, Romanian, Italian, Hungarian and German.

Franz-Stefan Gady

Associate Fellow, IISS

Franz-Stefan Gady is founder of Gady Consulting. Franz-Stefan is also an adjunct senior fellow with the Center for New American Security. 

Franz-Stefan is a former Associate Fellow and Senior Fellow with the Institute for International Strategic Studies focused on future conflict and the future of warfare. He also held various positions at the EastWest Institute, the Project on National Security Reform, and the National Defense University. He conducted field research in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Ukraine where, among other things, he embedded with the Afghan National Army, NATO forces, Kurdish militias, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Franz-Stefan has also reported from a wide range of countries and conflict zones as a journalist. He is the author of The Return of War and How the United States Would Fight China: The Risks of Pursuing a Rapid Victory.

Professor Tracey German

RUSI Senior Associate Fellow

Professor Tracey German is a Professor of Conflict and Security in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Her research focuses on Russian foreign and security policies, particularly Russia’s use of force in the post-Soviet space, conflict and security in the Caucasus and Caspian regions, and the impact of NATO/EU enlargement on Russia’s relations with its neighbours.

Prior to joining Defence Studies in 2004, she taught at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the University of Aberdeen, and spent several years as a research manager for a business intelligence company, specialising in energy security in Russia and the post-Soviet states. She speaks Russian and has travelled extensively across the post-Soviet area.

Her current research explores Russian views of the changing character of conflict and what lessons Russia has drawn from Western military activity over the past two decades.

Publications include - The Ukrainian Crisis: the role of, and implications for, sub-state and non-state actors, edited with Emmanuel Karagiannis (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017) and Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus: Good Neighbours or Distant Relatives? (Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2012), as well as articles in journals such as International Affairs, Contemporary Security Policy and East European Politics.

She is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI.

The Rt Hon John Healey MP

Secretary of State for Defence

: https://www.gov.uk/government/people/john-healey

General Sir Jim Hockenhull KBE ADC Gen

Jim Hockenhull was educated at the Royal Hospital School and 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 a Visiting Fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford.

In addition to his career as a professional intelligence officer he has worked in a variety of strategic planning roles. He has also served as an exchange officer with the US Army at Leavenworth and Monterrey and on secondment with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Jim has served in joint appointments for the vast majority of his career, including ten years on operational tours. He has been Chief of Defence Intelligence from December 2018 and was appointed to Commander UK Strategic Command with effect from May 2022.

Colonel Simon Horne OBE PhD FCEM

British Army

Si Horne is an Army Emergency Medicine (EM) specialist from Plymouth. He has supported operations in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone and South Sudan, at every stage from tactical evacuation to large field hospitals. His leadership positions have included: serving as EM lead for the Army; heading up the Centre for Defence Engagement (designing and delivering partner nation capacity building programmes worldwide); and supporting the strategic development of health services in the Southwest as Deputy Medical Director for University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

He has a PhD in Global Health, which focussed on medical civil-military interactions. In 2024 he was the Chief of the General Staff’s Fellow to the Royal United Services Institute, where he concentrated on maximising the survivability of combat service support. Although his work is mostly clinical now, he continues to lead Defence research into mass casualty management, as well as undertaking work on national resilience planning, international competition and influence.

Shashank Joshi

Defence Editor at The Economist

Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist, where he writes on a wide range of national security, defence and intelligence issues. Shashank was previously a senior fellow at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, where he now serves on the Advisory Board. He has also spent time at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Programme (CCW), which studies how armed conflicts are evolving.

In addition to his academic positions, Shashank has given lectures to the UK Defence Academy, the Atomic Weapons Establishment, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Ministry of Defence and NATO. He has also frequently given expert evidence to the House of Commons and House of Lords committees on foreign affairs and defence. He has written books on Iran’s nuclear programme and India’s growing military capabilities. He holds degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, where he served as a Kennedy Scholar from Britain to the United States.

In his time at The Economist, Shashank has reported from Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, among dozens of other countries. He has written widely on issues ranging from AI-guided drones, ransomware and cyber-attacks, the vulnerability of undersea cables and the spread of missiles in the Middle East. 

Tom Keatinge

Director, Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, RUSI

Tom Keatinge is the founding Director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) at RUSI, where his research focuses on matters at the intersection of finance and security. He is also currently a specialist adviser on illicit finance to the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee ongoing enquiry.

He has a Master’s in Intelligence and International Security from King’s College London, where he studied the effectiveness of the global counterterror finance regime. Prior to joining RUSI in 2014, he was an investment banker for 20 years at J.P. Morgan.

His research on finance and security considers a number of themes including the financial dimension of state threats, sanctions, terrorist financing, proliferation financing and organised crime. He has contributed to a variety of publications and media outlets; has given evidence to UK parliamentary and US congressional hearings and spoken at a range of high-level multilateral forums including the UN Security Council and the Financial Action Task Force and a number of its regional bodies.

Admiral Sir Ben Key KCB CBE ADC

First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, Royal Navy

Dr David Kilcullen

University of New South Wales

Dr David Kilcullen is Professor of Practice in the School of Politics and Global Studies at Arizona State University, Professor of International and Political Studies at the University of New South Wales in Canberra, and CEO of the analysis firm Cordillera Applications Group.

He is a theorist and practitioner of guerrilla and unconventional warfare, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, with operational experience over 25 years with the Australian, British and US governments as an infantry officer, intelligence analyst, policy adviser and diplomat. He served in Iraq as senior counterinsurgency advisor to Multinational Force—Iraq, then as senior counterterrorism advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, deploying to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Libya and Colombia. He is the author of eight books and numerous scholarly papers on terrorism, insurgency, military adaptation and urban warfare, and was awarded the 2015 Walkley Award for his war reporting on the rise of Islamic State.

He heads the Future Operations Research Group at UNSW Canberra, where he teaches contemporary strategy, special operations, urban warfare, military innovation and adaptation. Cordillera Applications Group works with advanced research agencies in the United States, Canada and the UK, and with NATO, on technology, artificial intelligence and future conflict. 

Professor Anthony King

Director of the Strategy and Security Institute, University of Exeter

Anthony King is Professor of Defence and Security Studies and the Director of the Strategy and Security Institute at the University of Exeter. He has published widely on war and the armed forces, including his most 2021 monograph, Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century, the second edition of which will appear next year. He has just finished a book on AI and military transformation which will be published by Princeton University Press in the Spring 2025.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton KCB ADC FREng

Chief of the Air Staff, RAF

Brought up in Derbyshire and educated at the local Comprehensive School, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1988 as a University Cadet and studied Engineering at Clare College Cambridge. He spent his early career in frontline roles working on Nimrod Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Tornado and in several roles within the Harrier Force. He has served as the Station Commander at Royal Air Force Wittering where he was also the RAF’s Logistics Force Commander.  

He has held a range of staff appointments in the Ministry of Defence, Air Command and in acquisition and support. He has been closely involved in strategic and capability planning for the Royal Air Force and Defence. He has been the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, where he was responsible for the strategic coherence and coordination of the Royal Air Force and planning for the RAF’s centenary programme. The most senior role he has held in the Ministry of Defence was as the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff for Military Capability. Before taking up his appointment as Chief of the Air Staff he was Deputy Commander Capability and People at Air Command, where he was responsible for the strategic planning and delivery of all aspects of Royal Air Force capability, including people, equipment, infrastructure and training.  

He has completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course and attended the Royal College of Defence Studies and the UK Pinnacle Course. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Derby University. He is a Vice Patron of the Royal Air Force Charitable Trust, an ambassador for the Royal Air Forces Association and President of the Royal Air Force Winter Sports Federation, Hockey Association and Powerlifting Association. He was appointed to the Military Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath as a Commander (CB) in 2017 and as Knight Commander (KCB) in 2023.

Dr Christopher Kolenda

Adjunct Senior Fellow, CNAS

Chris is a West Point graduate, internationally renowned combat leader, and retired Army colonel. He led an 800-paratrooper task force in eastern Afghanistan. His unit motivated a large insurgent group to stop fighting and switch sides, the only example in the 20-year history of the war. 

Chris was the US Secretary of Defense’s personal representative in talks with the Taliban from 2010-2103. He’s been a trusted adviser to Cabinet-level Secretaries, 4-star Generals, CEOs, Police and Fire Chiefs, NFL Coaches, and more. His clients have grown by over $100m and counting.

Frustrated by America’s poor track record with large-scale interventions against insurgencies, Chris secured a Ph.D. in War Studies at King’s College, London, and wrote the award-winning book Zero-Sum Victory: What We’re Getting Wrong About War.

His unique warrior-diplomacy has been featured in the New York Times bestselling books, including Jake Tapper’s The Outpost. He has also been featured and interviewed in the world’s leading newspapers and broadcast channels.

He established the Saber Six Foundation in 2022 to help veterans turn post-combat stress into growth.

Sir David Lidington KCB CBE

Chairman, RUSI

David Lidington served as MP for Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, for more than 27 years until he stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2019 General Election. He spent more than 20 years on the Conservative Party front bench, serving as an Opposition spokesman on Home Affairs, Treasury, Environment and Agriculture, Northern Ireland and Foreign Affairs. 

Between 2010 and 2016 David was the United Kingdom's longest serving Minister for European Affairs, visiting 45 European countries and representing the United Kingdom at the EU, NATO, the Council of Europe, OSCE and the UN Security Council. In Theresa May’s governments, he served successively as Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office. In that last role, David acted as deputy to the Prime Minister. 

David was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree, and Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, where after his first degree he took a PhD for work on law enforcement in the reign of Elizabeth I.

Major General Jonny Lindfors

Commander, Swedish Army

Major General Jonny Lindfors assumed Command over the Swedish Army on June 18, 2023. Prior to this he held the position as the Armed Forces expert in the National Defense Commission, tasked with preparing the next white book of Sweden’s National Defense.

He was born and raised in Kiruna where he also spent his early service years as a Ranger Officer at the Lappland Ranger Regiment. After a period focused on technical systems and maintenance within the infantry he turned to positions of command. His command assignments include the King’s Battalion at the Royal Lifeguard Regiment as well as the Norrbotten Regiment, a Mechanized Brigade platform.

He also commanded the Joint Force Training Directorate with the responsibility of manning and training the Swedish Armed Forces. The task included planning, execution and coordination of operational level exercises, managing the finances and allocating resources and tasks regarding manning and training for the Joint Force Generation. During his career he has also been deployed, serving among Swedish units in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

In addition to studies at the Swedish Military Academies and a Master’s Degree in War Science from the Swedish National Defence University, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Strategy from US Army War College. He is also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of War Science.

Lieutenant General Alfons Mais

Chief of the German Army

Lieutenant General Alfons Mais has served as Chief of the German Army since February 2020. He began his military journey in 1981 at the Army Aviation Training Center in Bückeburg. After officer training, he studied Economics and Organisational Sciences at Bundeswehr University in Hamburg, later becoming a helicopter pilot.

His operational experience includes tours with SFOR, KFOR and as Chief of Staff at NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Kabul. He taught at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, served in Brussels with the Federal Foreign Office, and served in the Airmobile Division as Chief of Staff. His command tours included 1^st Air Manoeuvre Brigade, the German Army Aviation Training Centre, , and Commanding General of 1 DEU/NLD Corps. Awarded honors include the Legion of Merit (USA) and Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur (France). Mais’s extensive experience spans aviation, staff command, and multinational operations, culminating in his current role as 21^st Chief of the German Army.

Stuart Lyle

Urban Operations Lead, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

Stuart Lyle is the urban operations lead for the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence. He joined in 2012 and, over his time in Dstl, he has led numerous urban operations projects. These have covered such topics as the role of airpower in modern sieges, urban Explosive Ordnance Disposal, urban wargaming, and numerous conflict studies. His main focus area is the exploration of new technologies and ways of operating to enhance urban operations capabilities for the UK Armed Forces. 

Stuart led the writing of the Future Cities: Trends and Implications report, exploring global trends in urbanisation and the likely implications for future military operations. He was the designer of the Urban Phalanx platoon and Block Buster brigade concepts, which are currently being used as the conceptual foundation for the future of the British Army.  

He teaches urban operations across the UK Armed Forces, including on professional military education courses at the Defence Academy. Stuart also teaches urban operations and shares his research with partners and allies around the world, most notably the US Army where he was an instructor on the US Army’s Urban Operations Planners Course.

Louis Mosley

Executive Vice President, Palantir UK

Louis Mosley oversees Palantir's business in the UK & Europe, including Palantir's UK Government engagements. His responsibilities include Palantir’s defence engagements in Ukraine and across Europe. Prior to joining Palantir, Louis worked in finance. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 2006.

Tom Newman

Chief Executive for Land/UK Aviation Sector, Babcock

Tom is Babcock’s Chief Executive for Land/UK Aviation Sector. He studied Naval Architecture at UCL, graduating with an M.Eng in 2003. He started his career at VT Shipbuilding as a graduate, joining Babcock through its acquisition of VT Group in 2010. He has held a variety of Director and MD roles in a range of industrial sectors including Broadcast and Communications, Aviation, Training and Emergency Services, completing an MBA at Warwick Business School in 2011. Tom is a certified coaching practitioner accredited by Henley Business School.

In 2019 he became MD responsible for the Cabinet Office Strategic Partnering Programme, reporting to the Group CEO and joining the Executive Committee, a role that also saw him lead Babcock’s global response to the challenges of COVID-19.

Tom became Chief of Staff to David Lockwood after his appointment as CEO in 2020 and was appointed Chief Executive, Land, in 2021, taking on responsibility for the UK Aviation business in 2023. He is Chair of the ESG Committee and Babcock’s lead for inclusion/diversity and has championed Babcock’s approach to the implementation of AI based tools to drive better customer insight.

Paul O’Neill CBE

RUSI Senior Associate Fellow

Paul O’Neill's research interests cover national security strategy, NATO, and organisational aspects of Defence and security, including organisational design, human resources, professional military education and decision-making. He was the editor of the national security council compendium ‘Securing the State and Its Citizens’ (Bloomsbury, 2022) and co-hosts the RUSI Talking Strategy Podcast series with Professor Beatrice Heuser.

Previously, Paul was a Royal Air Force officer working in strategy and human resources roles across Defence including in the Ministry of Defence Head Office. His career included commanding the Defence School of Personnel Administration, leading the military team working on the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review and latterly as the Head of Defence People Strategy. He has undertaken operational tours in Iraq, Northern Ireland, Oman, Turkey and Afghanistan where he was the Senior Advisor on Strategy and Policy to the Afghan Ministry of Interior.

Paul has a Bachelor’s in Laws, a post-graduate diploma in Personnel Management and Master’s degrees in Laws, Defence Studies and International Relations. He has been a Chief of the Air Staff Fellow at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford and is a visiting professor at the University of Winchester. He is a Companion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

He was appointed a CBE in the New Year’s Honour List 2021.

Dr Casey Perley

Director Army Applications Laboratory, US Army

Army Applications Laboratory Executive Director Dr Casey Perley leads Army Futures Command's mission to put the world’s best technology in the hands of Soldiers and help the Army learn to ingest commercial innovation. Dr Perley’s unique blend of expertise includes a background in molecular genetics and microbiology,  a PhD from Duke University and BS from Yale University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, where she researched some of the most dangerous viruses and designed DNA vaccines. Dr Perley is a talented harpist, featured on over 120 recordings, including one Grammy-nominated album.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC

Chief of the Defence Staff

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin is the professional head of the United Kingdom’s Armed Forces, military strategic commander and principal military adviser to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Defence. 

Appointed Chief of the Defence Staff in November 2021, his time in post has been dominated by war in Europe. He regularly meets with his counterparts in Kyiv, Washington and Brussels to coordinate military assistance to Ukraine and strengthen NATO deterrence. He has also worked closely with the Gulf nations to manage the risks posed by the conflict in the Middle East and to promote stronger military-industrial ties with the region.  An instinctive optimist and enthusiastic advocate of technological innovation, Admiral Radakin is a champion of the Defence Reform programme which will bring greater focus, prioritisation and accountability to the development of military strategy, capability and readiness. 

Admiral Radakin previously served as First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff from June 2019 until early November 2021, during which time he instigated a renewed Royal Navy presence around the globe, secured an expanded shipbuilding programme and helped broker the AUKUS agreement. 

A qualified barrister with an MA in International Relations and Defence Studies, Admiral Radakin commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1990. He has served in numerous command and staff appointments, both ashore and afloat, and in command of UK and international forces.

Matthew Savill MBE

Director of Military Sciences, RUSI

Matthew Savill is the Director of Military Sciences at RUSI, focussing on developments and trends in modern conflict, and the use of force in the 21st Century.

Before joining RUSI he spent over 20 years as a civil servant working on defence and security, predominantly in the Ministry of Defence. He joined the MOD in 2003, starting his career in Defence Intelligence as an Iraq analyst before moving to intelligence coordination and support to operations, and later roles in private office, approvals and scrutiny of major procurement projects, before a return to analysis and a secondment to the Cabinet Office. 

He has also specialised in strategy and policy, with roles in: Defence Strategy and Priorities, working on the Integrated Review; the MOD’s Operations Directorate, where he was responsible for operational policy for the Middle East and overseas counter-terrorism; the Cabinet Office National Security Secretariat, to cover intelligence oversight and then Middle East policy; the MOD team responsible for the deployment of the UK Carrier Strike Group in 2021; and operations and crisis team responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His final role in the MOD was responsibility for Special Operations policy, covering oversight of UK Special Forces and intelligence operations.

He attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Defence Academy Shrivenham in 2010-11, and the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2020, and has a Masters in Defence Studies from King’s College London. He has had articles published in Defence Studies and on The Wavell Room website.

He has deployed on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and across the Middle East for the military campaign against Daesh.

Matthew was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2008. 

General Pierre Schill

Chief of the French Army

General Pierre Schill has been the Chief of the French Army since July 2021. A graduate from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy he held various regimental positions in the French Marine Infantry and commanded of the 3rd Marine Infantry Regiment and later the 9th Marine Infantry Brigade.  

He held several positions at the Joint Staff among which Head of Force Employment. He worked on the enforcement of the general review of public policies in the Armed Forces in the framework of the drafting of the White Paper on Defence and National Security.  

As Deputy to the Chief of the President of the Republic’s Private Office he was in charge of military operations, of the military programming and the defence budget.  

General Schill has served on operations in Somalia, former Yugoslavia, Albania, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal.  

General Schill is a graduate from the War College and was an auditor at the French Higher Command and Staff Course and at the Institute of Higher Defence Studies. 

General Pierre Schill is Commandeur of the Légion d’honneur and of the ordre national du Mérite, and has been awarded the Croix de la valeur militaire with two battle honours.  

Professor Eitan Shamir

Managing Director, Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies

Professor Shamir currently serves as the Managing Director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA Center). Before pursuing an academic career, Dr. Shamir was the head of the National Security Doctrine Department at the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Prime Minister's Office and before that as an analyst in the IDF Dado Center of Interdisciplinary Military Studies.  

His research interests and publications include military strategy, innovation, and national security. Noteworthy works authored by Dr. Shamir include Transforming Command: The Pursuit of Mission Command in the US, UK, and Israeli Armies (Stanford University Press, 2011), co-authored with Edward Luttwak The Art of Military Innovation (Harvard University Press, 2023) and his mots recent book Moshe Dayan: The Making of a Strategist (Cambridge University Press 2025) which received reviews from The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Affairs. Additionally, he has contributed articles to leading journals such as International Affairs, Journal of Strategic Studies, and Survival, and authored numerous book chapters. Shamir has been interviewed by prominent media outlets such as The Economist, Financial Times, USA Today, Der Spiegel, BBC News, CNN International, The New Stateman, Ha’aretz, and the Jerusalem Post. Professor Shamir earned his PhD from the Department of War Studies at King's College London.

Michael Stephens

RUSI Senior Associate Fellow

Michael Stephens is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI. Previously he joined RUSI’s London office in September 2010, first in the Nuclear Security Programme before moving to International Security Studies, where he served until March 2020 as Research Fellow for Middle East Studies.

From March to June 2017 Michael was seconded into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, serving as the Senior Research Analyst for Syria and Lebanon.

As Head of RUSI’s Leadership Centre Michael has worked across the Middle East and North Africa region for many years focusing on capacity building and training programmes for governments and business clients.

Michael’s research has focused on Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Kurdish regions of Syria, their social composition and responses to the threat from the Islamic State; Arab Shia identity across the Middle East and its relationship with Iran, which included co-authoring a Whitehall report focusing on regional responses to Iran’s nuclear programme (2014). He is also a specialist in Gulf security, particularly the politics of Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

His forthcoming book co-written with Dr Christopher Phillips entitled “What next for Britain in the Middle East? Security, Trade and Foreign Policy after Brexit”, focuses on British policy to the Middle East following Britain’s exit from the European Union in January 2020.

As a frequent commentator on Middle East affairs, his writing has appeared in many news outlets and he is also a regular broadcast commentator. Michael also regularly advises the Crown Prosecution Service on issues relating to national security, and counter terrorism.

Michael studied at King’s College London and undertook three years of post-graduate research in the Middle East. He is proficient in both Arabic and Hebrew.

Juliana Suess

Research Associate, German Institute for International and Security Affairs

Juliana is the Research Fellow on Space Security as part of the Military Sciences team at RUSI and is the host of the podcast War in Space. She was previously Project Officer and Research Analyst at RUSI International. Her research interests include global space governance, sustainability, counterspace capabilities and space warfare.

Juliana holds an MA in Conflict, Security and Development from King’s College London and a BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Reading. Prior to joining RUSI, she was an intern for the Development, Concept and Doctrine Centre, the independent think tank of the Ministry of Defence. There she researched varied topic areas, including geo-strategic, security and stabilisation topics, as well as future and contemporary trends in warfare.

Major General Alex Turner DSO

Director Army Futures

Major General Alex Turner commissioned into the Irish Guards in 1998. At regimental duty he deployed on operations to Kosovo, Northern Ireland, the Iraq invasion of 2003 and Afghanistan.

Beyond the regiment he served as an infantry instructor, an observer with the UN on the Kuwait/ Iraq border in 2002/3, as an analyst with the MoD’s Defence Intelligence Staff and a stint with the Directorate of Training (Army) where he designed individual training for operations.  He returned to Afghanistan for a year in 2013/14 to assist with the creation of an Afghan National Army Officer training academy in Kabul.

He commanded 1^st Battalion Irish Guards from 2014 to 2017, whereupon he promoted to the General Staff and was employed as an operational planner in PJHQ. After completing the Higher Command and Staff Course, he spent a short period in MoD’s strategic communication unit before promoting into the role of Head of Strategy for the Army. From 2020 to 2022 he commanded the Army’s Information Warfare Brigade (77^th Brigade) and is now Director Army Futures.

A published military historian, he has lectured and broadcast about the First World War and is an active member of an organisation that explores and surveys Western Front tunnel systems. He is also a fellow of the MacDowell Arts Colony in New Hampshire USA for creative writing, and a keen, if cautious, mountaineer.

General Sir Roly Walker KCB DSO ADC Gen

Chief of the General Staff

General Walker was appointed as the Chief of the General Staff on 15 June 2024. He commissioned in 1993 and has commanded at company, squadron, battle group (1^st Battalion, The Grenadier Guards), brigade and SF group levels, variously in Northern Ireland, Afghanistan, Iraq, as well as joint command of operations across Europe, the broader Middle East, Africa and South America. On the staff, he has served in brigade, divisional, army and strategic HQs, most recently as Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) in the Ministry of Defence. Married, with three daughters, he lives in Herefordshire.