The BEARR Trust Annual Lecture 2024 | Speaker: Sir Lawrence Freedman

The BEARR Trust is pleased to share the recording of its 2024 Annual Lecture, kindly hosted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The lecture, titled “Ukraine — What Next?” was delivered by Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor at King's College London, providing a profound analysis of the current situation in Ukraine and potential future developments. The Q&A session was moderated by Sir Roderic Lyne, Patron of The BEARR Trust and former British Ambassador in Moscow (2000–2004). Due to a technical fault there is a short passage without sound near the beginning of Sir Lawrence's lecture, for which we apologise. All proceeds from this event contribute to BEARR’s ongoing work supporting grassroots civil society organisations focused on health and social welfare across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, as well as our Ukraine Emergency Appeal. About the Speaker Sir Lawrence Freedman is Emeritus Professor of War Studies at King’s College London where he was also a Professor from 1982 to 2014, and Vice-Principal from 2003 to 2013. He was educated at Whitley Bay Grammar School and the Universities of Manchester, York and Oxford. Before joining King’s he held research appointments at Nuffield College Oxford, IISS and the Royal Institute of International Affairs. Elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1995, he was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997. In June 2009 he was appointed to serve as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War. Professor Freedman has written extensively on nuclear strategy and the cold war, as well as commentating regularly on contemporary security issues. Among his books are Kennedy’s Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos and Vietnam (2000), The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy (4th edition 2019), Deterrence (2005), the two volume Official History of the Falklands Campaign (second edition 2007) and an Adelphi Paper on The Transformation in Strategic Affairs (2004). A Choice of Enemies: America confronts the Middle East (2009), Strategy: A History (2013), The Future of War: A History (2017) and Ukraine and the Art of Strategy (2019). His new book is Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine. With his son Sam, he has a substack, Comment is Freed.