The Long War Conference 2026

Attendees are requested to arrive at least 5 minutes before the conclusion of registration to guarantee they are seated for the start of the conference. 

Opening remarks will be given by Hamish Mundell, Associate Fellow, Military Sciences, RUSI 

Opening keynote speech will be given by Lt Gen Paul Griffiths, Commander Standing Joint Command.

Long wars are not static contests of attrition. They change as belligerents adapt their tactics, force structures, industrial base, weapons, and political assumptions. This panel will examine how Russia and Ukraine have adapted since 2022, while also drawing lessons from conflict and crisis in the Gulf. It will ask what the UK should, and should not, learn from these cases. 

Panel 1 Speakers:  

• James Bryne, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Open Source Centre  

Panel Chair: Deborah Haynes, Defence Editor, Sky News

Tea, coffee and refreshments will be available for conference delegates 

Long wars consume people as well as equipment. This panel will examine how the UK and its allies can generate, train, rotate and sustain manpower under the pressure of prolonged conflict. It will focus not simply on how to find more people, but on how to turn manpower into usable military capability. 

Panel 2 Speakers:

• Professor Vince Connelly, Oxford Brookes University  
• Major General Rt Hon Lord Mark Lancaster 

Lunch will be provided for conference delegates 

This panel will move from military and industrial adaptation to the political conditions that make endurance possible. Democracies often possess deep economic strength, strong alliances and innovative societies. Yet they face particular challenges in preparing for and sustaining long wars, especially when the fighting is abroad and the threat does not feel immediate to the public. 

This will also place contemporary challenges in historical context, examining how democratic states have succeeded and failed in sustaining long wars across different eras, and what those experiences reveal about readiness, resilience and political endurance today. 

Panel 3 Speakers:

• Dr Hilary Briffa, Senior Lecturer National Security Studies, King's College London
• Ed Arnold, Advisory Director for Defence, The D Group 
• Al Carns MP, Former Minister for the Armed Forces

Details of the afternoon keynote address will be confirmed in due course.  

Tea, coffee and refreshments will be available for conference delegates. 

Modern long wars create rapid cycles of adaptation between the frontline, industry and government but currently we are constrained by our peacetime industrial footprint. This panel will examine how as a war progresses we can mobilise industry to get big quick and remain on the front foot. 

Panel 4 Speakers:

• Dr Chris Lewis, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow 
• Wilf Owen, Editor Military Strategy Magazine 

Details of the closing keynote address will be confirmed in due course. 

Conference delegates are invited to a drinks reception.