Rob Johnson

Military historian and former soldier Dr Rob Johnson takes a fresh look at the First World War in the Middle East and challenges some of the common assertions about local leaders and forces simply being the puppets of the Great Powers.

Johnson argues that war in the Middle East was far from being a sideshow of the conflict in Europe. It was the centre of a war for imperial domination and prestige. And he says that local forces and leaders were not simply the puppets of the Great Powers. They embraced, resisted, succumbed to, disrupted and sometimes overturned imperial plans. The way in which they did that helped to shape the immediate aftermath of the war and set the foundations for conflict in the Middle East today. Johnson will also talk about the role played by Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, in the Middle East conflict.

Johnson is director of the Changing Character of War research programme at the University of Oxford. He advises both US and European armed forces on defence and security matters.

Supported by George Warren.