Strife

The Academic Blog of the Department of War Studies, King's College London

You are here: Home / Archives for Announcement

Announcement

Women in Writing Mentoring Scheme – Apply Now!

by

Too often, the voices of women on issues of conflict and security are marginalised or go unheard, despite the critical role they play in conflict, development, peacebuilding and international security. We want to support you to write your own chapter in the history of conflict.

The team at Strife is extremely proud to present the first year of our Women in Writing Mentoring Scheme.

Strife is an internationally recognised blog and peer-reviewed academic journal, led by doctoral and graduate researchers based in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. We study all aspects of ‘conflict’, combining political, historical, literary, and philosophical approaches to conflict to provide thought-provoking and unique perspectives for our readers. We have over 3.5 million readers a year, with strong engagement from governmental and academic institutions.

Upon joining our Women in Writing Mentoring Scheme, you will be assigned a mentor who will help guide you through every step of the writing process—from the generation of ideas, to editing, to publication. A companion on your year-long journey, your mentor will be your open door to the world of writing, so that you will be able to confidently walk through and shine on your own. Later, you may then lend a hand to the women following in your footsteps.

You will write two pieces for the Strife Blog over the course of the year (one in each term). You will also be invited to two dedicated and exclusive WiW Mentoring events per term, where you will have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field who have paved the way. It will be a unique opportunity for networking, community building, and growing your confidence as a writer.

Women currently undertaking an MA at KCL are welcome to apply; all events and meeting will take place online.

You are in control: you will get as much out of the scheme as you put in. The only thing you have to ask yourself is what do I want to do?

Applications are open until Monday 5th October. Apply now by completing the application form at this link. 

Strife Editorial Board are Recruiting – Apply Now!

by

 

 

Strife is an internationally recognized dual format publication, led by doctoral and graduate researchers based in the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. We study all aspects of ‘conflict’, combining political, historical, literary, and philosophical approaches to conflict to provide thought-provoking and unique perspectives for our readers. We have over 3.5 million readers a year, with strong engagement from governmental and academic institutions.

Strife is comprised of an academic blog, as well as the peer-reviewed academic journal, Strife Journal, which is published quarterly. Both platforms, as well as their complementary events such as conferences, issue launches, and presentations, are centred thematically on conflict in all its shapes and forms. We are continuing to grow and expand, and we want you to join us to be a part of the editorial board.

Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, Strife continues to grow, offering our readers regular new scholarship. This year all events and guidance will be fully delivered online to safeguard our staff. This has opened the exciting possibility for postgraduate students, from any country, anywhere in the world, to become a part of the Editorial Board.

Joining Strife presents a unique opportunity to work alongside a diverse group of postgraduate students, building expertise in conflict studies. Teamwork is a key component of Strife, as is the sense of community we have built over the years. Recruits will also avail of contact with professors and leading academic experts through our events, publications, and networking opportunities.

The following positions are open for recruitment, and each of these rewarding roles is open to international applications from all over the world —

Please apply by 5 October 2020.

Senior Editors (PhD only)

The Senior Editors work directly with the two Managing Editors and the Coordinating Editors to ensure a high-quality and timely review process of pieces submitted for consideration for publication in the blog the Journal. This will include reviewing submitted works for content, clarity, and adherence to the Strife style guide and referencing rules. It will be the Senior Editor’s responsibility to liaise and coordinate with the relevant author assigned to him/her as necessary regarding issues to be clarified, amendments, and any other details necessary for the production of the final draft within the assigned deadlines.

Copy Editors (MA and PhD)

Working exclusively on the blog, the Copy Editor will assist the Managing Editor of the blog and the Senior Editors during the editing process. This will include reviewing submitted works for content, clarity, and adherence to the Strife style guide and referencing rules, particularly during the second round of editing—a key aspect of the editorial process.

Series Editors (MA and PhD)

Series Editors will coordinate, with the prior approval, support, and direction of the Managing Board, the preparation for publication of a singular subject-themed series of articles to be featured on Strife blog. The Series Editor will be responsible for writing the series introduction, and  should aim to include high quality contributions from a diverse, and preferably senior (PhD, faculty), range of contributors and will be responsible for conducting the first edit of each piece in the series. Series Editors are responsible for selecting contributors.

External Representatives (PhD only)

This is a dual role, consisting of both editing and promotional responsibilities. As Strife continues to grow and expand, we look forward to building our presence in Universities beyond King’s College London through our dynamic External Representatives. This will include encouraging new writers to contribute to Strife and harnessing other opportunities to promote Strife amongst the students of the Representatives’ universities, expanding the audience of Strife, and additionally helping to raise the profile of the organization. Examples of initiatives to increase visibility could include posting in specific Facebook groups, sharing with research groups, or engaging with other student bodies. The External Representative will also assist in the editing of blog pieces, in coordination with the Managing Editor of the blog.

Staff Writers (MA and PhD)

Staff Writers are responsible for the creation of regular content for Strife blog They will liaise with the Managing Board on core areas of focus for publication. This will include, but is not limited to, contacting, organising, and transcribing interviews with senior academics and persons of interest for the blog, and reviewing events and publications (within the Department of War Studies at KCL and beyond). Staff Writers are also encouraged to keep up to date with current issues and write topical articles through the year.

 

To apply to the Strife Editorial Board:

Strife Series on Human Rights, Security, and Diplomacy in the Asia Pacific – Introduction

by

by Anna Tan

(Image Credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

 

Editorial 

In recent years, the world has seen a rising number of civil protests and movements globally. The eruption of the Hong Kong crisis in mid-2019, where mainstream political dialogues reached a new level of fixation on the increasingly looming authoritarian power of China that pervades well beyond its mainland territories, shook many of us. The rise of China has been overwhelmingly redefining the overall regional security of the Asia Pacific, and how that development influences the shift in the nature of international relations is undoubtedly dependent on the alliance of the Asian countries with the West, especially with the United States.

Reflecting on Müllerson’s theory on the relationship of intrastate human rights and international security[1}, it is indisputable that China under Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is a very strong authoritarian state, and its overtly aggressive policies against Hong Kong’s mass civil resistance not just made headlines for an incredibly sustained period of time throughout the year, but also threatens the international stability by means of possible similar aggressions. It threatens liberal democratic values that are upheld by many free and democratic nations from across the world, especially in a time where American influence has been on a rapid decline since the assumption of the Trump administration. In the Asia Pacific, while nations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea face new challenges in manoeuvring through the changing dynamics of international security now jeopardised by the “America first” policy of the United States, other countries such as Myanmar welcome the rising Chinese hegemony. Why and how does this happen?

This Strife Series explores the interplay between human rights and security through diplomatic exchanges in the Asia Pacific. The series analyses how in some countries, addressing human rights, democratic freedom and maintaining status quo national and/or regional security seem to be mutually exclusive at times instead of being mutually reinforcing, despite sharing the common factor of China’s domineering economic leverage.

Publications:

In the first article (12/2019) “China’s Turbulent Year: 2019”, Professor Kerry Brown analyses how China’s aggression in response to the Hong Kong protests and its draconian policies to the Uighur population in Xinjiang have both comparable ‘tit-for-tat’ elements that the Chinese leadership may not have thought through carefully, but will have detrimental consequences to the international opinion on China’s usually very cautious and deliberate efforts on maintaining its diplomatic image.

In the second article (01/2020) “China, Myanmar, War Crimes and the Issue of National Sovereignty”, Anna Tan looks at how Myanmar under Aung San Suu Kyi’s leadership, has strangely shifted from being a Western ally during the landmark victories of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 2015 elections to an even stronger adherence to China’s orbit than ever before. She describes how the Sino-Burmese relations have evolved dramatically under the light of the Rohingya conflict in Rakhine and Myanmar’s subsequent genocide trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The third article (03/2020) “Taiwan Elections: Continuity, Change and the Cross-Strait Conundrum”, Evita Liagka explores what the victories of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) under the leadership of Tsai Ing-wen could mean for the future of Taiwan and its cross-strait relations. She points out that the China-Hong Kong crisis came in a convenient timing for DPP’s mobilisation of garnering greater support than ever before and since the public consensus on maintaining the status quo international diplomatic status of Taiwan has remained largely unchanged, we might not see a drastic shift in DPP’s policies from its previous term. However, KMT’s recent decision to swerve away from its pro-China stances might pose newer challenges for Taiwan in the years ahead.

The final articles are contributed by Yeseul Woo, analysing North Asia’s security issues from the perspective of South Korea.

  • In Part 1 (02/2020) “South Korea’s Dangerous Silence on Human Rights Abuses in North Korea”, Yeseul Woo argues why the US lack of sponsorship in the UN Security Council meeting on the discussion of North Korea’s human rights issues should not mean that South Korea should remain silent. Ms Woo explains why, in fact, South Korea’s silence justified by the importance of the nuclear security framework would actually be counterproductive in regional security in the long run.
  • In Part 2 (03/2020) “The First Tech War? Why the Korea-Japan Tensions are about US-China Competition on AI”, Ms Woo further explains that South Korea’s silence on North Korea’s human rights issues for the sake of North Asia’s nuclear security (described in Part 1) is actually the result of the deterioration of Korea-Japan relations which has led to South Korea withdrawing from the GSOMIA pact. Though Seoul retracted its decision last minute, Ms Woo argues that the tensions between Seoul and Tokyo are less about the debate surrounding comfort women and wartime forced labour, and is actually influenced by the US-China competition on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nuclear surveillance technology.
  1. Müllerson, R. (1997). “Human Rights Diplomacy.” Routledge.

Anna Tan is a postgraduate student for MSc Global Affairs at King’s College London. Her research is focused on how Western human rights diplomacy affects democracy and authoritarianism in Asia Pacific. She has previously worked for UNDP Myanmar and the American Red Cross, and is a member of the Programme Committee of the Conflict, Security and Development (CSD) Conference 2020 hosted by the Department of War Studies and the Department of International Development (DID). Anna holds a BSc in Neuroscience. You can follow her on Twitter: @AnnaTanGTW.

 

Strife Blog’s 2018 Readers Survey – Results

by

September 12, 2018

An Afghan elder shows his purple inked finger to indicate that he voted during the Afghanistan elections of August 20, 2009 in Barg e Matal, Afghanistan. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christopher Allison.

 

We are glad to share the results of our first Readers Survey. The Survey ran between June 11 and July 16, 2018. The results below have already been very useful for us, as they allow us to understand who our readers are and if they are satisfied or not. We will use your suggestions to improve our Blog, especially regarding the website layout and the choice of future content. Thanks again for taking your time to share your opinion with us!

Question 1 – How old are you?

Our readership is mostly relatively young, with a great majority of respondents being between 18 and 34 years of old (78%). This is most likely due to our nature as a student-led blog.

 

Question 2 – How would you describe yourself?

Our audience shows a great diversity with regard to its current occupation. More than a third of our readers are students (36% either full-time or part-time), while more than a quarter are practitioners (28%) and exactly a quarter are university staff.

 

Question 3 – Where are you currently based?

Half of our readership is based in the United Kingdom, reflecting our strong links with the country where most of our members of the Board are currently based. The rest of our readership, however, is relatively diverse and reflects our global reach.

 

Question 4 – How did you hear about Strife?

Notwithstanding the power of social media, word of mouth seems to be our strongest ally regarding how we acquired our readership base. This probably reflects our roots as a student-led initiative inside King’s College, but it may also reveal something about the actual effectiveness of social media, even in our age. Regarding our online presence, Twitter seems to be the platform that contributed the most.

 

Question 5 – What is your purpose in visiting Strife?

Naturally, the most chosen answer reveals the interest in conflict on the part of our readers. However, the even share of the first three answers advises us to continue to deliver interesting pieces of academic research (like our Features) as well as policy-related posts.

 

Question 6 – What are your interests?

The most popular interest among our readers seems to be International history, chosen by 58,3% of our respondents. It is followed by Insurgency and counterinsurgency (47,2%), Intelligence and International impact of national politics (both 44%), and Terrorism and counterterrorism (38,9%). Among the Others reply, an enthusiast “All the above and more” stands out, along with more specific replies (e.g. “Asymmetric warfare”)

 

Question 7 – How often do you visit Strife Blog?

Our readers are quite evenly divided when it comes to frequency of visits. 31% of them visit us once a week or more; 39% visit us once or twice a month; and the remaining 30% is less regular.

 

Question 8 – Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the Strife blog website?

This question aimed at understanding our readers’ satisfaction with our website. Although a clear majority is satisfied or very satisfied (70%), a lack of satisfaction in the remaining 30% points out to the need for some improvements on the website. Some of you have kindly provided us with helpful advice on what to do in the next months.

 

Question 9 – Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the articles published by Strife blog?

Satisfaction towards our content is even more common than that towards our website. 81% of our readers are either satisfied or very satisfied with our articles. This, however, does not mean that we will not improve where possible to satisfy at least part of the remaining 19%.

 

Question 10 – Are you satisfied with the current length of articles on Strife?

On this particular question, our readers expressed satisfaction towards our current article length (1000-1500 words for a standard piece, 2000-2500 for a Feature). Some degree of support towards longer articles encourages us to continue providing you with our Features for the foreseeable future.

Thanks again for your help! The 2019 Readers Survey will come out around May next year.

Positions open with Strife Editorial Board – Apply now!

by

10 September 2018

Strife is a dual-format publication founded in 2012 by PhD students and researchers from the War Studies Department of King’s College London. Comprised of an academic Blog and a peer-reviewed Journal, it is run by postgraduate students and doctoral researchers from the School of Security Studies.

From its debut in 2012, Strife has grown from 5,000 to 870.000 annual views, with over 2.1 million unique pageviews and an audience that spans all the inhabited continents. As shown in our recent Readers Survey (results to be published soon), included among our steady viewers are academics, practitioners, and students, along with research institutions, journalists, and citizens interested in knowing more about war and security.

Strife’s thematic focus is ‘conflict’, in all its shapes, forms, and senses. We combine political, historical, literary, and philosophical approaches to this phenomenon through blog and journal articles, as well as unique formats like photo essays, book, film, and art reviews. We aim to provide thought-provoking, unique perspectives on all aspects of conflict, from the cultural to the practically applied.

From September 17th, we will be looking for outstanding individuals willing to join the Editorial Team for the next academic year (October 2018 – September 2019).

For the first time, we are opening applications to candidates from external universities. As we are based in King’s College London, the majority of the members of the board will be currently registered for a program of study or engaged in research at King’s. However, we are looking forward to accepting a selected number of outstanding external applications, wherever they come from. The following job descriptions indicate which positions are restricted, for reasons of convenience, to students and PhD candidates based at King’s.

The positions available include:

 

  • Managing Editor – Blog (MA or PhD applicants)

The Managing Editor – Blog is responsible for the Blog’s overall maintenance and activity, aiming at providing a steady stream of content while ensuring a smooth editing and publication process. Along with the EiC, the Managing Editor – Journal, and the Communications Manager, (s)he is responsible for formulating, reviewing, and amending Strife policy as part of the Managing Board. This role is restricted to current King’s students.

 

  • Communications Manager (3rd year BA, MA, PhD applicants)

The Communications Manager will be responsible for maintaining and expanding Strife’s social media and web presence. Duties will include promoting new Blog entries, the latest Journal issue, and Strife events, as well as curating the monthly newsletter and expanding further Strife’s audience. Along with the EiC, the Managing Editor – Journal, and the Managing Editor – Blog, (s)he is responsible for formulating, reviewing, and amending Strife policy as part of the Managing Board, of which (s)he is secretary.

The Communications Manager will ideally be a Graduate-level student, though we may accept outstanding third year undergraduates for this role. This role is restricted to current King’s students.

 

  • Coordinating Editor – Journal (PhD applicants only)

The Coordinating Editor – Journal will work directly with the Managing Editor – Journal to prepare and deliver the publishing of Strife Journal’s winter and summer issues. He or she will take point in coordinating the editorial and proof-reading process of journal submissions, and will act as liaison between the authors, Senior Editors and the Managing Board of Strife.

 

  • Senior Editor – Journal & Blog (PhD applicants only, including )

The Senior Editors form the backbone of Strife’s operations, providing excellent editorial support for authors, as well as assisting in the smooth day-to-day running of Strife. Individuals will only be considered for the position of Senior Editor if they have reached the level of PhD studies or above. The SE designation serves to provide recognition of this level of service and dedication to Strife.

Senior Editors will also help in editing blog entries  and will be required to contribute with one blog post per term.

 

  • Series Editors – Blog (MA or PhD applicants)

Series Editors will be responsible for the publication of a singular subject-themed series of four articles to be featured on Strife Blog. This would also figure an introduction of no more than 500 words written by the Series Editor.

Notice that, at the moment of application, candidates to this position are not required to have a final, precise idea about the Series topic yet. Rather, candidates should aim at specifying the skills that they can bring to the Board.

Series Editors will also help in editing blog entries.

 

  • External Rep (MA or PhD applicants)

The External Rep is a student from an external university that takes charge of liaising between students in their home university and Strife. This will include encouraging new writers to contribute to Strife, as well as promoting Strife amongst the graduate population and expanding its audience and contributors base. There is only one External Rep for each external university represented on the Strife Editorial Board.

The External Rep will also assist in editing blog entries and will be required to contribute with one blog post per term. In case the Rep’s distance from London is considerable, the Rep is exempt from regularly attending Editorial Board meetings.

 

  • Editor – MA Representative (MA applicants)

The MA Rep takes charge of liaising between Masters-level students and Strife. This will include encouraging new writers to contribute to Strife, as well as promoting Strife amongst the graduate population, expanding its audience and contributors base.

The MA Rep will also assist in editing blog entries and will be required to contribute with one blog post per term. This role is restricted to current King’s students.

 

  • Editor – BA Representative (BA applicants)

The Editor – BA Rep will take charge of liaising between Strife and the undergraduate community at King’s. He or she will be responsible for filtering any undergraduate submissions in accordance with relevant Strife guidelines. The BA Rep will also promote Strife, encouraging new writers to contribute to Strife and expanding Strife’s audience.

The BA Rep will also assist in editing blog entries. This role is restricted to current King’s students.

Becoming part of Strife, a vibrant and influential publication, represents a unique opportunity, boosting your professional profile, putting you in direct contact with experts in the field, and helping accumulate valuable editorial and writing experience.

To apply please send your CV and a cover letter to editors@strifeblog.org. In the subject line please state ‘Editorial Board application’ and specify the position you are applying for.

Applications open on Monday, September 17th and close on Sunday, October 7th.

Additionally, we are continuously seeking new contributors. This is a great opportunity to be published as well as to have your work reviewed by experts in a friendly and constructive environment. Our contributors have persistently appreciated our feedback. Submission guidelines can be found on the Submissions page.

We look forward to getting you involved with Strife.