How to survive a hostile world
The Changing Character of War will convene a panel to discuss Patrick Porter’s new book with Stanford University Press. Porter makes the case for realism in the age of war, economic dislocation and climate crisis. Porter tackles three prominent criticisms of realism: that it is immoral, unrealistic, and provincial. Realism, he argues, is everything its critics believe it is not: moral in its commitment to securing the polity and its interests in a world where there is no higher government; realistic and the best starting point for explaining how human groups tend to behave; and practical for use by everyone, everywhere, including beyond the Euro-Atlantic.

Professor Patrick Porter is Professor of International Security and Strategy at the University of Birmingham. He will be joined a panel to discuss his book, published this month by Stanford University Press.

Dr Susan B. Martin is a Senior Lecturer in the War Studies Department at King’s College London.

Dr Jeanne Morefield is Associate Professor in Political Theory and Tutorial Fellow in Politics, New College Oxford.

Dr David Blagden is Associate Professor of International Security and Strategy, University of Exeter.

Dr Seán Molloy is Reader in International Relations at the University of Kent.
Date: 14 October 2025, 13:30
Venue: All Souls College, High Street OX1 4AL
Venue Details: Old Library
Speaker: Patrick Porter (Birmingham)
Organising department: Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR)
Organiser: Changing Character of War Centre (CCW)
Organiser contact email address: info@ccw.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Strategy, Statecraft, and Technology (Changing Character of War) Centre Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Elizabeth Robson