Description
00:00 // Rethinking Deterrence for a Disrupted World
02:44 // Cold War Lessons from a Royal Navy Lynx Pilot
06:05 // The Peace Dividend and a Shrinking Royal Navy
08:24 // New Alliances in a Multipolar World
12:31 // Why Trident Still Matters
16:53 // Will Technology Make Submarines Obsolete?
19:25 // Hybrid Threats: Warnings from Defence and Intelligence Chiefs
22:28 // Britain’s Vulnerabilities: Undersea Cables, Energy and Cyber
25:46 // Whole-of-Society Defence and the Military-Civilian Gap
28:43 // Would Britons Fight? The YouGov Poll
32:46 // Fixing Defence Procurement and Industrial Resilience
35:01 // Russia, China, Iran and North Korea: An Axis of Autocracies
38:19 // NATO, Interoperability and the Drone Debate
42:23 // Conclusion: How the UK Must Raise Its Game
Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/mJuf2Gez2QM
The unipolar world of American military dominance, which characterised the relatively stable 35-year post-Cold War period, is now well and truly over. This lecture reveals how nation states face a series of geostrategic shifts and challenges, combined with rapid technological change.
The world has now entered a highly disruptive and volatile period which will be defined by complexity, competition and conflict. How nations credibly deter will not be straightforward, but failure to do so could prove to be catastrophic.
This lecture was recorded by Martin Connell on the 27th of October 2026
Sir Martin Connell joined the Royal Navy straight from school and went on to command at every rank from lieutenant through to vice admiral. Initially flying helicopters, he went on to be a captain of warships ranging from patrol vessels and frigates through to aircraft carriers, commanding military operations all around the world. Later in his career he worked in various shore-based roles including as a diplomat in Washington D.C. and numerous senior command and staff roles in the Ministry of Defence in London which included a period in 2025 as the Interim First Sea Lord and Chief of the Royal Navy.
He has advised the highest levels of UK and allied governments and industry leadership on all aspects of deterrence, national security, major procurement programmes and the defence nuclear enterprise. Martin is now a strategic advisor specialising in defence and international security.
The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/rethinking-deterrence
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