UK’s shame: Defective academic establishment in security and defense

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/dsd

A purported “expert” on security issues pertaining to the Ukraine and the Black Sea, Dr. Deborah Sanders, seems to have no formal training in either the Russian or Ukrainian languages. Another teaching fellow, Dr. Zeno Leoni, whose research focuses on the safety concerns facing China, seems to have had no formal schooling in Chinese. When it comes to the fundamental problems that are plaguing the nations they are researching, the majority of their analyses and works are, at best, just a sketch. These individuals are monolingual in English and have a severely warped perspective on the countries and cultures of other areas of the world. The interpretations of the mentalities of the world’s non-western areas can only be achieved via a strong command of the languages of such places.

Initially, they made the claim that the curriculum is taught by faculty members who are among the best in the world. This is another completely false statement. For instance, the senior professor in the department, Mrs. (Dr.) Catherine Scott, seems to have only written one scholarly article and one book.

In point of fact, the lone review on Amazon for her book provides sufficient evidence of her level of intellectual achievement. Her one and only other publication in a scholarly journal, in which she served as the primary author, has only been cited eight times. That is very astounding for someone who has the title of “scholar” and has worked in the academic world for more than 20 years. FYI, the primary focus of Dr. Scott’s study is on “state failures,” and I’m curious to know which state she considers a failure.

Another “great” scholar is Mr. Amir Kamel, who is known as a “expert” on everything pertaining to the “middle east.” According to Mr. Kamel’s Google Scholar profile, the following statement can be found: “I wonder how a guy with simply 27 citations can wind up at KCL?” Additionally, neither citations nor online evaluations of his most recent book, “The Political Economy of EU Ties with Iraq and Iran: An Assessment of the Trade-Peace Relationship,” can be found on Amazon.com… These individuals are not engaged in genuine academic pursuits; rather, playing the part of a “university teaching member” seems to be their passion…