Evening Lecture: 'Challenges to the Rules-Based International Order and the Role of Armed Forces' - Ian Park, Royal Navy

This is an in person event only.

Lecture summary: The world is facing profound geopolitical challenges.  Across the globe wars rage, societies fracture and tensions rise.  In our interconnected world few remain unaffected by the consequences of conflict.  In this talk, Ian Park considers contemporary geopolitical challenges and areas of future tension and critically assesses the role of armed forces in upholding the rules-based international order.

Ian Park is a Captain in the UK Royal Navy and a barrister.  He has served in seven ships and deployed worldwide in support of the Royal Navy’s contribution to defence.  He has also deployed as a legal adviser on operations to Afghanistan and, on many occasions, to the Middle East.  Ian is, or has been, a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School, a Hudson Fellow at Oxford University, a Mountbatten Fellow at Cambridge University, a First Sea Lord’s Fellow, and a Freeman of the City of London.  He is a graduate of St. John’s College, Cambridge, has a doctorate in international law from Balliol College, Oxford and has lectured at Harvard Law School, Cambridge University, Oxford University, The Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, Hanoi University, USSH Hanoi, and Freiburg University amongst other institutions.  Ian has written or contributed to five books including the monograph ‘The Right to Life in Armed Conflict’ (Oxford University Press, 2018) and presently teaches part-time at Yale Law School and Edinburgh University and serves as the Head of Navy Legal.

Chair: Prof Eyal Benvenisti / Prof Sandesh Sivakumaran