An international expert gave boys fascinating insights into the worlds of security, foreign policy and defence in the latest talk in QE’s lecture programme.
In his wide-ranging address to Senior School assembly, Shashank Joshi, who works for a leading security thinktank, looked at topics including the scope of security, the importance of research and the psychological impact of a country acquiring nuclear weapons.
A Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, Mr Joshi focuses primarily on international security in South Asia and the Middle East, with a particular interest in Indian foreign and defence policy. He holds a starred first in Politics and Economics from Cambridge and a Master’s degree from Harvard, where he has also taught, and in 2007–2008 he was a Kennedy Scholar in the US. He has given evidence to the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs and Defence committees several times. His most recent book, Indian Power Projection: Arms, Influence and Ambition, published last year, was praised by the Financial Times as “admirably lucid”.
After being introduced by Nikhil Shah, of Year 12, Mr Joshi told the boys that security covers a broad range of issues and regions. It concerns not just weapons, but is about everything from climate change (insofar as it affects security) to investigating how a large bet against the value of Borussia Dortmund’s shares helped the authorities track the perpetrator of the recent attack on the football team’s bus.
In its work, the institute seeks to be policy-relevant, not just for the UK, but also for other countries and for organisations such as NATO, the EU and the UN. “The aim is to influence policy in some way.”< /p>
“Communication is absolutely key to what we do,” he said – he and his colleagues need to be able to get politicians and other decision-makers to understand the institute’s work and see its relevance.
Research is also important, and it was essential to gather views from diverse perspectives: “You can’t do this from your desk; you have to travel and speak to people,” he said, although he conceded that ‘open source’ research could also be valuable. “A lot of what we do is about making educated guesses… having gathered information from a range of perspectives.”
He looked at the case of North Korea and its ‘nuclear weapons’, explaining to the boys about the deep analysis of photographs, which involves carefully examining images to uncover clues about the North Koreans’ programme. For example, the size of a bomb in a photo with the North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un would be carefully studied to determine what it means in terms of how the weapon could be launched and the scale of damage it could cause. Examination of signs in the background of images helped to work out where photographs had been taken, while researchers were also on the look-out for subtle signals that could be revealing: in one photo taken by satellite over North Korea’s nuclear-testing facility, workers could be seen playing volleyball – possibly saying: ‘We are not currently preparing a launch, so don’t attack us’.
Mr Joshi then posed some questions around the psychological impact of countries having nuclear weapons, and inter-continental ballistic missiles, in particular. The acquisition of such weapons is considered a ‘game-changer’: it changes thinking in the US and UK, for example, if suddenly we think we can be hit. But, he asked, would we act to protect a third-party nation if we could be hit in retribution?
Mr Joshi also answered several questions from the boys in a Q&A session following his talk:
Q. What happens if you get it wrong?
A. There are significant consequences if signals are misread and incorrect interpretations given to governments, Mr Joshi said. He used Iraq as an example, where there was an assumption that the Iraqis were simply continuing to hide their nuclear programme before the invasion in 2003. The consequences of that action are still being felt today in the region and in our foreign affairs.
Q. Are we at risk of another global conflict?
A. It was difficult to say, according to Mr Joshi. Some are drawing parallels to the period before World War I, but there is a different context. There is uncertainty: “Things in global politics are very fluid right now… things are up in the air.” He gave one example: will the USA under Trump take on China, or strike an agreement with it?
Q. What about India?
A. India has big decisions to make in its approach to China, particularly in the context of the USA, said Mr Joshi .
School Librarian Ciara Murray, who co-ordinates the lecture programme, said: “Mr Joshi was an engaging speaker who put across the complexities of security and international relations issues in a way that was easy to follow and understand. There would have been many more questions if there had been more time!”
They therefore had to research debating points and evidence in the 45 minutes after they were given the topics, which were:
The debates took place in four rooms and each was supervised by a member of staff and by an HBS sixth-former.
Pupils engaged well in all the debates, Miss Davies said, with interesting points being raised from the floor. “QE and HBS students clearly enjoyed working together and sharing their ideas with students from another school.
At the end of the day, the best eight debaters overall were asked to prepare for a final debate – and this time they were given just 15 minutes to prepare. The debate took place in front of all the other pupils, with all of them “rising to the challenge very well”.
Next came the Amuse-Bouche round, which involved a version of the Numbers game from TV’s Countdown. Three more of these followed throughout the day, culminating in a repeat of the challenge from a vintage episode of the show from 1997, accessible on YouTube as The Most Extraordinary Numbers Game Ever. None of the Maths Feast teams repeated the original contestant’s feat of arriving at a figure of exactly 952 after first – to the astonishment of the show’s then co-host, Carol Vorderman – multiplying 318 by 75.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Mock elections constitute an excellent means of engaging boys’ interest in politics and current affairs. They develop debating skills, while at the same time giving pupils an insight into the democratic process.”
Mr Enright thanked the six boys who stood as candidates, all from Year 10, commending them both for their research and for the passion they evinced during campaigning. He also thanked the poll clerks, who issued ballot papers and checked voters’ names against the register, and the pupils who voted, as well as Head of Politics Liam Hargadon and members of the History department, who organised the election.
The six candidates debated issues central to the real-world election at a special Question Time-style hustings, including austerity, Brexit, education funding and security. During the event, which was was chaired by Head of History Helen Macgregor, an enthusiastic audience eagerly asked the candidates questions. The six boys also cross-e xamined each other, requiring them to think on their feet and testing the depth of their research.
Voting in the mock General Election was open to boys in Years 7–10. (Boys in the older years are currently on study leave for their public examinations.)
“We were really happy and relieved when the overall prize was announced – I am proud of our achievement and glad we put in all the hard work and that we were able to learn some new skills in the process, such as how to get people together and how to manage events,” he said. “I believe life is not just about having a good time and looking after yourself; it’s important to contribute to society and help those who have less than yourself.”
The Wings of Hope’s work includes the support of children in India and in Malawi. In India, it provides a free education to children whose families could not otherwise afford to send them to school, as wel l as arranging tuition evenings in North Chennai for some children living in slums. In Malawi, its work involves not only education but also providing poor and orphaned children with the basics of life – food and clothing – and with the stationery they need to attend classes.
During the spring, Team Oak was behind a concert at Rickmansworth’s Watersmeet Theatre, for which they spent several months raising sponsorship and selling programme advertisements. QE Headmaster Neil Enright was invited as Chief Guest at the concert in recognition of the fact that QE boys have now been involved in fundraising for The Wings of Hope for several years.