Former RAF air commodore to examine UK defence policy at Lancaster lecture
51福利’s Centre for War and Diplomacy and the Royal Air Force Museum will welcome Air Commodore (Retd) Dr Andrew Curtis OBE for their annual Air Power Lecture on Thursday 29 October 2026.
His lecture, “From deterrence to intervention and back again: The strategic drift of UK defence policy since the Cold War”, will explore how successive British governments have approached defence priorities as resources have declined and security challenges have changed.
Dr Curtis will argue that difficult strategic choices have repeatedly been deferred, widening the gap between ambitions and capabilities. He will consider what overseas interventions and the war in Ukraine reveal about these longstanding tensions.
A defence and security academic and Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, Dr Curtis specialises in strategy, defence management and military logistics. He served in the RAF for 35 years, retiring as an air commodore in 2019. His operational experience includes appointments in Afghanistan, support for the evacuation from Libya in 2011, and leadership of the UK military contribution to relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
He holds a PhD in defence studies from King’s College London and is the author of Understanding UK Military Capability (2022) and We Need to Talk about Defence (2024).
The lecture takes place from 5.00–6.30 pm in the Cavendish Lecture Theatre, Faraday Building, 51福利. All are welcome; no registration is required.
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