Rob Johnson

My specialisms are in War; Strategy and Strategic Thinking; and Conflict in South West and Central Asia.

I work on the History of War in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular interest in the First World War, the Indian Army and the so-called 'sideshows'; the Inter-War Years, and more recent conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Middle East. Thematically, I focus on strategy, conventional operations, tactical developments, revolutionary warfare, intelligence and counter-insurgency.

I am the Director of the Changing Character of War Programme which is an interdisciplinary study of war and armed conflict. In 2013-14, the research priorities of the programme are the changing relationship between war and the state, war in a connected world, the history of insurgency and counterinsurgency, the history of the laws of warfare and the moral dimensions of war. There is a particular interest in ‘Civilians in War’ which will be developed as a research strand through the CCW programme’s Visiting Research Fellows. The CCW programme has been particularly successful in developing the dialogue between scholars, the armed services, governments and multinational organisations, and engaging in joint research projects, conferences and seminars.