At RUSI’s Annual Chief of the Defence Staff Lecture, Daniel Skeffington and Flight Lieutenant Tim Shortland were announced as the winners of the 2024 Trench Gascoigne essay prize.
The Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize is RUSI’s annual competition for original writing on contemporary issues of national and international defence and security. Dating back to 1874, the Prize reflects and reinforces the Institute's status as a leading platform for free-thinking debate on defence and security.
Daniel Skeffington, a Doctoral Student in War Studies at King’s College London, won in the category “Students currently in full-time education” for his essay entitled “Deterrence and War Powers”.
Flight Lieutenant Tim Shortland, Air & Space Operations Officer with the Royal Air Force, won in the category “Individuals in the first 15 years of their military career” for his essay entitled “Crisis and Opportunity: How China and Russia Challenge US Hegemony”.
Both prizes were presented by Admiral Sir Tony Radakin KCB ADC following his lecture and discussion around the contemporary security and defence challenges facing the UK. Winning entries were selected on the basis of their originality, logical argument, sound analysis, style, clarity and conciseness.
Both essays will be available for members to read in a forthcoming RUSI Journal issue.
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The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) is the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defence and security think tank. Our mission is to inform, influence and enhance public debate to help build a safer and more stable world.
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