Programme of events

Situated in Whitehall and within walking distance of all the major government departments, the Institute is ideally placed to attract high-quality speakers and participants at its events. These vary in size and format from set piece lectures to conferences, seminars, round table meetings and workshops.

Event: Members' Lecture - Obama's Middle East Challenge: Overcoming Divergent Priorities 13:00, 3 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Dr Alon Ben-Meir, Senior Fellow, School of Global Affairs, New York University, USA, will propose the policy options and hard choices facing both the new governments of the United States and Israel.

Conference: A Future Defence Review – Finance, Process and Hard Strategic Choices 09:00, 7 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Following its successful ‘Defence in the Round’ conference, held in November 2008, RUSI is producing a second conference in its series of events looking at UK defence policy. This event takes place in the run up to a General Election and the Future Defence Review (FDR), which an incoming Government is likely to commission.

Workshop: Alternative Energy and Sustainability Workshop Series 09:00, 9 Jul - 20 Nov 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
RUSI is hosting a series of workshops, throughout 2009, to focus on the key issues identified at the RUSI Alternative Energy and Sustainability Conference in February 2009. To register for the full series, at a discounted rate please click through.

Workshop: Energy Management for Defence Infrastructure 09:00, 9 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The first in the series of Alternative Energy and Sustainability workshops will focus on the progress being made on the Defence Estates. It will consider how the MoD can further reduce its environmental footprint at home in the UK, considering the change in behaviour and investment in infrastructure required.

Conference: The International Joint Operations Command Conference 2009 09:30, 15 - 16 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The International Joint Operations Command Conference is the premier event for senior emergency managers, commanders and policy makers from around the world.

Event: Whitehall Dialogue – War and Medicine 15:45, 22 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Presentation by Lieutenant General Louis Lillywhite, Surgeon General, UK Ministry of Defence, on how increased current conflict survival rates have been achieved.

Event: Members’ Military History Lecture – Vietnam: The Helicopter Comes of Age 12:45, 24 Jul 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Ian Passingham will discuss the use of helicopters during the Vietnam War. He will draw upon a number of operations that demonstrated the battlefield helicopter’s potential and vulnerabilities, as well as the most salient lessons learned at that time. Finally, he will consider the legacy of the helicopter’s ‘coming of age’ in Vietnam for both current and future conflict.

Event: Lord Trenchard Memorial Lecture 2009 - Combat Operations: The Asymmetric Advantage of Air Power 13:00, 14 Sep 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The Lord Trenchard Memorial Lecture 2009, to be given by Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, Chief of the Air Staff (designate), Royal Air Force, will examine the utility of air power by reflecting on historical and contemporary perspectives.

Workshop: Alternative Fuels and Energy Resources 09:00, 23 Sep 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
This workshop, the second in the Alternative Energy and Sustainability Series will consider the available alternatives to fossil fuels for the military and the challenges faced in ensuring they are sustainable and operationally effective.

Event: Members' Lecture - NATO at 60: A UK Perspective 13:00, 25 Sep 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
A lecture by Lieutenant General David Bill, UK Military Representative to NATO and the EU. This lecture will focus on the need for NATO to urgently adapt to modern day demands in a world ever more inter-related and increasingly insecure.

Event: Members’ Lecture – Supporting Military Operations: The Role of the Defence Intelligence Staff 13:00, 1 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
A lecture by Air Marshal Chris Nickols, Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), UK Ministry of Defence. CDI will look at the intelligence requirements of current operations and the opportunities presented by improved sensors, communications and networks to help our commanders in the field conduct more effective operations, both now and in the future.

Event: Whitehall Dialogue – Co-ordinating Intelligence: A UK Perspective 15:45, 8 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Robert Hannigan, the Prime Minister’s Security Adviser and Head of Security, Intelligence and Resilience, Cabinet Office, will lead a Whitehall Dialogue on: ‘Co-ordinating Intelligence: A UK Perspective’.

Workshop: Sustainable Procurement and Green Design for Military Platforms 09:00, 15 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The third workshop in the Alternative Energy and Sustainability Series will focus on the issues involved in sustainable procurement, and also consider how the impact on the environment and dependency on fossil fuels can be reduced during the design process.

Workshop: Cyber Security Strategy Forum 09:00, 21 - 22 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The UK's first ever Cyber Security Strategy was announced on 23 June 2009. Held four months after the document's release, this two-day forum, aimed at senior policy-makers, security managers and practitioners, will offer an opportunity to critique the Strategy and the effect it has had on other areas of UK security policy.

Conference: Secret Intelligence and the Armed Forces Conference 09:00, 23 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Presentations at this one day conference will cover topics including SIS and the Armed Forces, 1909-1949; The Realities of Intelligence Sharing in the International Environment; View from the Ground: The Uniformed Army's Perspective; The Role of Human Intelligence; and Learning from the Past.

Event: Members’ Lecture - Achieving Cultural and Behavioural Change in the UK Ministry of Defence 13:00, 30 Oct 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Ursula Brennan, the recently appointed Second Permanent Under Secretary of State at the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), will speak on her experiences of achieving cultural and behavioural change across Government, and on what is similar and what is different in the unique civil / military environment of the MoD.

Event: Whitehall Dialogue – Engagement of the Science and Technology Supplier Base in Delivering Military Capability 15:45, 5 Nov 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Presentation by Professor Phil Sutton, Director Science and Technology Strategy, UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), on how the MoD is engaging with the science and technology supplier base in delivering military capability.

Event: Military History Lecture - The Origins of the American Civil War: What Can We Learn from the Way a Society Remembers a War? 12:45, 10 Nov 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Long fascinated with the origins of the American Civil War, Professor Brian Holden Reid will address the various ways ‘blame’ has been attributed for the outbreak of the war. He will look at the great crisis of the 1850s, the controversy over the slavery question, the unwillingness to compromise and the overwhelming conviction that the war would be short. All these factors precipitated the greatest and most important war in American history. This lecture will seek to illuminate the way we think about the coming of war and the varying ways we recall it.

Workshop: The Role of Information Systems 09:00, 20 Nov 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
The fourth and final workshop in the Alternative Energy and Sustainability Series will discuss balance between the befit that information systems can provide in reducing fossil fuel consumption and their increasing power consumption.

Event: Members' Lecture - The Defence of the Realm 18:00, 23 Nov 2009, RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Professor Christopher Andrew will discuss his groundbreaking new book, The Defence of the Realm, which is the first ever authorised history of the British Security Service (MI5). It reveals the precise role of the Security Service in twentieth-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism.

Our events are open to all Members of the Institute. Corporate Members enjoy significant discounts off the standard delegate rates at the Institute's major conferences as a benefit of membership.