Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize 2023
See the winners of this year's prizes.
Dating back to 1874, the Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize reflects and reinforces the Institute's status as a uniquely placed platform for free-thinking debate on defence and security.
Awards are made on the basis of originality, logical argument, sound analysis, style, clarity and conciseness.
Winners
Full-time education category
The winner in the full-time education category, receiving £1,000, is Turner Ruggi for his essay: ‘Counterstrategies to Economic Warfare: A Strategic Framework in a World of Weaponised Interdependence’. Turner Ruggi is an undergraduate student in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford.
Military career category
The winner in the military career category, also receiving £1,000, is Joe Reilly for his essay: ‘Perfidious Albion’? British Foreign Policy in an Age of Strategic Choice’. Joe Reilly is a Midshipman in the Royal Navy and a Research Analyst at the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre.
The prizes were presented by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC, Chief of the Defence Staff, following his Annual Lecture on Wednesday 13 December 2023.
Judges
The judges this year were:
- Lieutenant General Sir David Capewell KCB OBE, Distinguished Fellow, RUSI, and former Chief of Joint Operations, Ministry of Defence
- Professor Beatrice Heuser, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI, and Professor of International Relations (Politics), University of Glasgow
- Air Vice Marshal Peter Dye OBE, former Director General, Royal Air Force Museum
Competition Sponsor
This year the prizes were funded from the RUSI Military Sciences Martial Power Programme.