Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize 2025

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2025 Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize.

Dating back to 1874, the Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize reflects and reinforces the Institute's status as a uniquely placed platform for free-thinking debate on defence and security.

Awards are made on the basis of originality, logical argument, sound analysis, style, clarity and conciseness.

Winners

Full-time education category

The winner in the full-time education category, receiving £1,000, is Scott Mackie for his essay: ‘Entropy and Empire: From Expansion to Endurance as the Measure of Spacepower’. Scott is a Postgraduate Researcher at Durham University.

CreditScott Mackie being award his prize for his essay: 'Entropy and Empire: From Expansion to Endurance as the Measure of Spacepower'

Military career category

The winner in the military career category, also receiving £1,000, is Yazan Issa for his essay: ‘The Semantics of Defeat: How Strategic Language Obscures Continuous Conflict’. Yazan is an Officer Cadet in the British Army.

The prizes were presented by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton following the annual Chief of the Defence Staff Lecture on Monday 15 December 2025.

CreditYazan Issa, prize winner for his essay: 'The Semantics of Defeat: How Strategic Language Obscures Continuous Conflict'

Judges

The judges this year were:

Lieutenant General Sir David Capewell KCB OBE, Distinguished Fellow, RUSI, and former Chief of Joint Operations, Ministry of Defence

Professor Beatrice Heuser, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI, and Director of Strategy Teaching, General Staff College of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg.

Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye OBE, former Director General, Royal Air Force Museum

Competition sponsor

This year the prizes were funded from the RUSI Military Sciences Martial Power Programme.