Page 5 - Cormorant Issue 20 2017

By any measure, the events that made news headlines during the Advanced
Command and Staff Course 20 (ACSC 20) have transformed the world far beyond
the gates of the Defence Academy at Shrivenham. Most ACSC alumni will have re ected both during and after their course about those events and issues in defence and beyond that shaped their ACSC experience. For the cadre of ACSC 20, the rise of populist politics, the outcome of the Brexit referendum, the actions of a resurgent Russia, the ongoing crisis in Iraq and Syria, the release of the Chilcot Report and the possibility of a Trump presidency set the prevailing political landscape at the start of the course and would remain relevant throughout. These events and issues were re ected in presentations and subsequent questions posed in the Cormorant Lecture Theatre, and in uenced Syndicate Room discussions, essay theses, formal debates and even the less formal discussions conducted in the relaxed atmosphere of the Shags Bar. For my own part, I recall worrying that the entire thesis of my International Security Studies essay on world order (the rst course deliverable) was
Cormorant Magazine Editorial Team pictured left to right: Lt Col Shaun Chandler (Chilcot Sub-editor), Lt Col Ellie Williams (Photography),
Lt Col Charlie Harmer (Yearbook Sub-editor), Wg Cdr Jo Swainston (Editor), Lt Col Matt Lewis (Deputy Editor), Cdr Kay Hallsworth (Diversity and Difference Sub-editor), Lt Col Gary Sawyer (Chilcot Sub-editor), Ann Stow (US Elections Sub-editor) and Wg Cdr Chris Rowley (Photography Sub-editor).
Not pictured: Wg Cdr James Hanson (Brexit Sub-editor), Lt Cdr John Wilson (Russia Sub-editor) and Lt Col Ed Cartwright (Chilcot Sub-editor).
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Editorial
Wg Cdr Jo Swainston
signi cantly undermined by the election of Donald Trump to the US Presidency just prior to the submission date. It would not be a question of re-writing however, but rather a case of continuing to observe, contemplate, analyse, and question as events in the US developed over the remainder of the course. We would collectively apply the same approach to the other events and issues forming the backdrop to our ACSC experience as the course progressed.
The ACSC 20 cadre was made up of 97 International students from 59 countries
together with UK students from the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force and Civil Service. In the same way that the learning experience of ACSC 20 was re ective of its time, it also proved to be an experience re ective of the cultures, experiences, insights and opinions
of the whole ACSC 20 cadre. In this edition of the Cormorant Magazine we have thus sought to re ect both the students of ACSC 20, our experiences over the course and the events and issues that were not only relevant to us and others studying at the Joint Services Command and Staff College
during 2016 and 2017, but also to colleagues in Defence and beyond. In the following pages you will thus nd the following six broad themes: Brexit; the US Elections (and post-truthism); Russia; Syria and Daesh; the Chilcot Report; and Diversity and Difference. You will also nd articles re ecting the many social, sport, exercise and other events and activities undertaken during ACSC 20. I very much hope that this edition of the Cormorant magazine is both an enjoyable read and a reminder of good times!