INTERVIEWS
Conflict in the combat zone
Captain John Scarlett (OA) joined the British Army after leaving Dulwich College in 2009. He served in the Coldstream Guards, where he received a Military Cross for his leadership and bravery in Afghanistan. In a Skype interview Ben Cudworth (Year 13) asked him for his thoughts about conf lict today, and where he sees the role of schools such as Dulwich College in shaping conf lict resolution in the future
Is having a plan after intervening more important than intervening in the first place? That is a really good question. My viewpoint is based on my experiences in Afghanistan, but also from looking at it from the perspective of the conf licts that have happened before and since. There is no template for how these things work; the management and objectives of the British Army in Helmand changed throughout the campaign. In 2006
BC: In the absence of one identifiable enemy conf lict is regarded as being much less black and white now. Do you think that makes the world a more dangerous place? JS: It’s important to be aware of the changing threats, and to make the public aware as well. When I joined the army academics emphasised the role of non-state actors, and prophesied there would never be another state-on-state conf lict. Yet we look around the world and there are lots of different tensions that didn’t exist five years ago. It is important, in order to mitigate the risk of unintended consequences, to have a very good understanding of the capabilities that people might try to use against anyone, and to make sure that we are prepared for what those consequences may look like.
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