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Fellowship Programmes & Positions available at Strife

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This academic year, Strife is offering two fellowship programmes.

New this year, our Strife Writing Fellows, known previously as Staff Writers, will produce regular content for Strife Blog, working closely with the Blog Editors while developing their writing and research skills.

Our Women in Writing Fellowship Programme offers a supportive environment for women to promote their work and develop their voice.  Women in Writing Fellows will work closely with a mentor throughout their Fellowship while attending regular educational workshops with faculty, staff, and the Strife team.

To apply review the Fellowship descriptions below and submit an application using the links below.

Questions can be directed to apply@strifeblog.org.

Strife Writing Fellows

Strife Writing Fellows, known previously as Staff Writers, will produce regular content for Strife blog while developing their writing and research skills.

They will liaise with the Fellowship Coordination Team to pitch, plan, research, and write articles, producing one monthly.

Over the year they will benefit from experienced editing, concentrated on supporting their growth as researchers, as well as a series of workshops from practitioners who work in conflict. Publications by Fellows will include interviews, current events analysis, historical reflections, book reviews and arts analyses, however, Fellows are encouraged to propose, innovate, and utilize novel mediums or structures.

While Fellows are not required to focus on topical events, it is a position which accommodates those interested in sharing their perspectives on contemporary issues.

APPLY FOR THIS FELLOWSHIP

Women in Writing Fellowship

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, peace-building and international security. The Women in Writing Fellowship offers a spring-board into academic writing and publishing for Women completing their MA here within the War Studies Department.

The team at Strife is extremely proud to present the second year of our Women in Writing Programme. This fellowship program is all about providing a supportive environment for women to promote their work and develop their voice. The fellowship offers a year-long mentorship programme where individuals selected for the programme will be assigned an academic mentor to support them through the writing and editing process —from the generation of ideas, to editing, to publication. A companion on their year-long journey, the mentors will be their open door to the world of writing, so that the women will be able to confidently walk through and shine on their own.

The mentees in the Women in Writing Programme will write two pieces for Strife Blog, as well as be part of exclusive events and roundtable discussions, as well as have the opportunities to learn from experts in the field. Our events and workshops feature access to and discussions with experts  people who have had careers in international relations, politics, education, cyber security and so much more. At Strife we pride ourselves in creating a platform  that provides women with unique and exceptional opportunities for networking, community building, and growing their confidence as writers.

This competitive scheme is aimed at women looking to develop their writing and editorial skills. They may have previous experience or be completely new to publishing but should have a strong interest in the analysis of conflict and all its themes.

APPLY FOR THIS FELLOWSHIP

Women in Writing Mentoring Scheme – Apply Now!

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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. 

The strife of finding oneself, or a trip through the House of the Dead: Review of The Charnel House

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By Pablo de Orellana:

2014-10-20 17.55.19
In a foray into the relationship between art and conflict, editor Pablo de Orellana reviews The Charnel House, a poetic graphic novel  by painter Tom de Freston in collaboration with 37 leading contemporary poets, a book that takes readers through an agonising exploration of knowledge about oneself –and the problems of identity and its recognition.

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 ‘I watched myself falling for nine nights’, a line from The Charnel House, speaks of the plight of its protagonist and of the author’s spectacular development over the past year. De Freston’s last exhibition at London’s Breese-Little Gallery (November 2013-January 2014, see catalogue here) was comprised of paintings whose characters are calmly observed by the author in despair, degradation and displacement. They were sad, yes, but portrayed in compositions suggesting narrative, framing a spectacle of unbridled despair. De Freston’s characters reach a climax of exasperated frustration, and yet the works provide the means for viewers to frame despair, highlighting its all-too-human insularity.

The Charnel House book features many of the same images in graphic novel format. Punctuated by poems by 37 leading authors such as John Mole and George Szirtes, the storyboard highlights deeper narratives in the images themselves. A character finds himself resembling a Guernica-like horsehead character and sets out in an angst-ridden quest for understanding of his condition. The narrative drags us through all of “Horsehead’s” existence: love, sex, family, loss, painting, a gallery show and even waterboarding and beheading. The paintings and images themselves more than ever depend upon theatrical staging to provide position, sense and visual continuity to great effect.

You-can-make-it-drink
Tom de Freston, You can make it drink, 200x150cm, oil on canvas, 2013

The violence that aesthetically constitutes the narrative acts in this journey of self-discovery is what fascinates me the most. These instances of violence point to the moments of transition and choice of identification in relation to horsehead’s own politics of who he should be. This violence denoted through the moments when horsehead hates, loves and reconsiders himself, and the inevitable questions that arise at each instance. Furthermore, for those of us that inquire into the constitution of political identity, de Freston provides a fascinating set of isolated visual markers that challenge how we come to recognise identity –gestures, scenes, poses and dress. In sum, how Horsehead recognises himself, the markers that tell him who he is and how they contrast with whom he should be, poses a serious challenge to the ideational stability of identity. Remembering and retrieving who you are, as Horsehead finds out, is a problem.

Diana
Tom de Freston, Diana, 200x150cm, oil on canvas, 2013

These moments in which Horsehead addresses his condition are exacerbated by the structure of this exercise in ekphrasis, when the reader’s aesthetic eye is challenged by the textual response. Highlights among the poems responding to the artwork are ‘The Hunger Moon’ by Helen Ivory and ‘Illumination’ by Alan Buckley. The latter in particular denotes the exploratory (and violently desolate) mission of this aesthetic journey though human experience.

The Charnel House is a spectacular painterly journey through a character attempting to find himself through the horrors of his own soul. All in one house and one night.

 
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Pablo de Orellana is Senior Editor of Strife and a Doctoral researcher at the War Studies Department, King’s College London. His interests include diplomacy, critical theory, nationalism, part-taking in democracy and contemporary fine art.

Tom de Freston’s The Charnel House, published by Bridgedoor Press, is available in hardback and also as an e-book.

 

Pakistan Taliban leader killed: another drone, another Mehsud. At what cost?

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by Maryyum Mehmood

MQ-1 Predator

Hakimullah Mehsud, leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was reported to have been killed in an American drone strike early Friday morning. According to conversations between TTP spokesmen and Pakistani news outlets,  Mehsud, along with two of his bodyguards, was killed in the village of Dade Darpakhel in North Waziristan, Pakistan. This article outlines some of the key consequences of his death for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s overtures for negotiation with the TTP and more broadly for Pakistan.

33 year old Hakimullah Mehsud succeeded Baitullah Mehsud, when his predecessor was slain under similar circumstances, in a US drone operation in the troubled regions in August 2009. Mehsud’s killing has been wrongly reported on several occasions in the past. Details surrounding the circumstances of Mehsud’s actual killing are still emerging. A bounty of $5million had been offered by the FBI since 2010.

Lacking in any formal education and dropping out of a Madrassah in his early teens, Mehsud can be seen as an archetypal TTP foot soldier. Mehsud persevered, working his way up through the ranks of the Taliban; despite his humble beginnings as one of the outfit’s truck drivers, Mehsud climbed the ladder of the Pakistani Taliban’s hierarchy. Being in charge of suicide bomb training and later becoming a spokesman for the TTP, media savvy Mehsud never failed to amuse international reporters but was also considered to be eccentric and often described as reckless. Amongst his many infamous plots, Mehsud is said to have been the mastermind behind the 2009 suicide bomb attack on the CIA officers stationed in the eastern region of Khost, Afghanistan.

The news of Mehsud’s killing comes only a day after the Pakistani government officially vocalized its desire to negotiate with the TTP. Pakistani PM, Nawaz Sharif, said on Tuesday that Pakistan was committed to holding unconditional talks with the Taliban. Mehsud echoed this statement in early October 2013, following the capture of the TTP’s second in command by US forces in Afghanistan.

The timely killing of Mehsud has definitely tossed a spanner into works, showing once more the premature failure of diplomacy in the region. Interior Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, condemned the drone strikes, branding them as a deliberate attempt to “sabotage” his government’s plans to engage in peaceful dialogue with the Taliban. While Pakistani officials consider this to be a great step towards defeating the Taliban, the government’s stance for the time being will not err from its demand in halt for drone strikes. The government has officially issued a statement following the events on Friday, in which it  “strongly condemns the US drone strike,” lambasting drone attacks as “a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” which “have a negative impact” on bilateral ties, regardless of the drones’ high profile targets.

In a somewhat similar fashion, much of Pakistani civil society, whilst rejoicing at the end of Mehsud, will take issue with the use of drones for their notorious track record of civilian casualties. Estimated figures show that civilians bear the brunt and for every, ‘victory’ such as the killing of Mehsud, hundreds of innocent Pakistanis are killed and labelled ‘collateral damage’. Many question whether the lives of hundreds of innocents is really a price worth paying. They demand justice. They demand accountability. Most importantly, however, the killing of Mehsud has led many frustrated by the Taliban’s reign of terror in Pakistan to question why now, and not sooner? At the other end of the spectrum, conspiracy theorists in Pakistan will condemn Nawaz Sharif for being embroiled in a charade of peace talks whilst he was allegedly aware of the plan to kill Mehsud.

Hakimullah Mehsud, like his predecessor Baitullah before him, is no more. However, the menace of the TTP, its ideology and militants very much remain. Inevitably a new leader will be announced in the coming days. Rumors suggest that Mehsud’s replacement will be a toss-up between Maulvi Omar Khalid Khurasani, of the Mahmand region and Maulana Fazlullah, leader of the Swat Taliban. Regardless of who is to take up leadership of the TTP, one thing is certain: the only way to prevent the repetition of this continuos cycle of killing and bloodshed is revolt from below, from the people on ground. In the Pakistani political context, air strikes carried out by foreign forces are certainly not a sustainable long term solution to eliminating Pakistani Taliban insurgency, putting an end to terror and establishing effective peace.

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Maryyum Mehmood is a first year PhD candidate at the department of War Studies, King’s College London. Her research focuses on mechanisms of racial and religious prejudice, and responses to stigmatisation. She is also interested in South Asian security issues.