'A new era of history: how should we navigate a new world of disorder?' with General Sir Nick Carter

Forthcoming Event

Date
 09 June 2026, 5:00pm - 6:15pm
Registration Required

Location
 Oxford Martin School & Online
34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD

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The multi-lateral international system that the US and her allies built after WW2 is in terminal decline. A new system has yet to be established. This is compounded by phenomenal technological change and the evolving character of politics and warfare. The consequence is a world that is far less stable than we have had for several generations. How should this be navigated?

General Sir Nick Carter served in the military for 45 years, latterly as the Chief of the Defence Staff where he was Head of the UK Armed Forces and the principal military advisor to the Prime Minister, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State for Defence. He is an expert on defence and geopolitical affairs and his talk at the Oxford Martin School will look at how military risks have changed over time, and what that means for governments and institutions trying to operate in an increasingly uncertain world.

REGISTRATION

Nick Carter bio pic

General Sir Nick Carter
Former Chief of the Defence Staff, UK

Nick Carter is an accomplished strategic leader and advisor. He has over 45 years’ military experience culminating at the top of his profession as the Chief of the Defence Staff where he was the principal military advisor to the Prime Minister, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State for Defence, and the Head of the UK Armed Forces. He also served as the Chief of the General Staff, professional Head of the British Army. He is an expert on Defence and Geopolitical Affairs, Transformational and Strategic Leadership, and Inclusivity.

He has commanded military operations at every level of command and in a variety of different contexts, including the Troubles in Northern Ireland, UN peacekeeping in Cyprus, NATO peace enforcement in both Bosnia and Kosovo, and commanding the UK-led Brigade in Iraq in 2003-04. He has multiple years of experience in Afghanistan since 9/11, commanding 55,000 US and NATO troops in Helmand and Kandahar during President Obama’s surged in 2009-10, designing approaches to counter insurgency, and acting as the key facilitator to build confidence between the Afghan and Pakistani governments. He has commanded more American troops and marines than any other foreigner.

An accomplished military diplomat, he has developed several coalitions and military communities of interest including in the Middle East with the GCC, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt, in the Caribbean, and a Joint Expeditionary Force with the Nordics and Baltic States to counter Russian belligerence. He also sought to develop a relationship with his Chinese opposite number, the Chief of CMC Joint Staff Department Li Zoucheng.

Nick is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California, and a member of the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory Board.

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