This Year’s Lord Caradon Lecture 2026
Trustees are delighted to announce that the 2026 Lord Caradon Lecture will be given by Professor Michael Clarke
Professor Michael Clarke was formerly the Director of the Royal United Services Institute and currently Defence and Security Analyst at Sky News and Fellow of King’s College London, the University of Aberystwyth and the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Date of the Lecture: Thursday 26th November 2026
Venue: Plymouth Marjon University
Starts at: 7.30 pm
Lecture Subject: TBA.
Professor Michael Clarke
Professor Michael Clarke is a Visiting Professor at King’s College London and at the University of Exeter. He was the founding director of the Centre for Defence Studies, and then the International Policy Institute, both at King’s College London, before he became Deputy Vice-Principal at KCL. In 2007 he left King’s upon his appointment as the Director-General of the Royal United Services Institute. He served as Director General of RUSI until 2015.
He was a specialist adviser to several parliamentary committees from 1997 to 2024, latterly with the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. He has previously been a member of the Chief of Defence Staff’s Advisory Board and the Prime Minister’s National Security Forum.
He is a Fellow of King’s College London, the University of Aberystwyth and the Royal College of Defence Studies. He is currently Defence and Security Analyst for Sky News.
His recent books have included, Tipping Point: Britain, Brexit and Security in the 2020s (2019), Britain’s Persuaders: Soft Power in a Hard World (2022) and Great British Commanders: Leadership, Strategy and Luck (2024).
Plymouth Marjon University
The lecture will be held in The Quad Theatre at Plymouth Marjon University (Derriford Rd, Plymouth PL6 8BH). There is ample parking with guides on hand to give directions from the parking area to the theatre.
Please note that parking is no longer free, payment can only be made via smart phone on the RingGo app, or by phoning 0203 0460010. Blue badge holders are entitled to free parking when registered at the Welcome Desk during their opening hours. You will need to have registered your vehicle whilst they are open. Please bring with you your blue badge, or a photo of the front & back of your blue badge. Outside of opening hours, parking is still payable for blue badge holders if not already registered with the Welcome Desk.
All attendees are invited to a post-lecture reception.
The lectures are free of charge and open to the public, with a retiring collection at the end.
The abilily to book places at this year’s lecture will be available later this year. Those on our database will be notified by email.