Contact Dr Colin Robinson
Background
Dr Colin D. Robinson is a Lecturer at the Centre for Defence Leadership and Management, Cranfield Defence & Security, Shrivenham.
His research centers on the strategic challenges and opportunities for OECD states’ defence aims and programs in the remainder of the world, as well as the history of African armies; the African Standby Force; military command and control; and NZ defence issues (Afghanistan and joint operational command & control). He has recently been focused on how liberal ideology, liberal ideas, at the highest levels, both help and impede OECD progress in building partner armies, notably in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and for Liberia, where he did his doctoral fieldwork. He has also done repeated policy & concepts work for the New Zealand defence establishment, with the Policy and Planning Division of the NZ MOD (1999) and as lead author for the NZ Army’s Future Land Operating Concept (2005-07). His NZ defence experience also includes being an analyst for Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand’s Lessons Learned Branch (2012-15).
He sits on the editorial boards of Defence and Security Analysis and the Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies. He spent much of 2020-22 teaching on military decisions and strategy for the eSchool of Professional Military Education, USAF Air University. He previously worked for the United Nations in Georgia, Liberia, and New York. He completed his doctorate in 2012, worked for the University of Liberia 2016-17, and was a Visiting Lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Massey University in 2018.
His consultancy work has included being the Military Expert on an EU-funded project focusing on Somalia at Sahan Research in Nairobi, Kenya, 2017 to pilot the project and from 2018-2020; creating, leading and managing a UN funded security reforms public-engagement project for the United Nations Mission in Liberia while at the University of Liberia 2016-17; consulting for the UN Climate and Security Mechanism on Somali climate issues and maritime / coastal securirty, 2021-22; and, earlier, compling the Force Development Plan while attached to the Office of Defence Force Development, Dili, East Timor, 2003.
He is keen to hear expressions of interest for student supervision in counter-insurgency, African conflicts, African military forces, and effects of climate change on warfare and military forces.
Publications
Articles In Journals
- Robinson CD. (2024). Why the Afghan and Iraqi Armies Collapsed: An Allied Perspective. The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters, 54(3)
- Robinson CD & Wyatt C. (2023). Why did the 2004–09 Liberia SSR Program not succeed in creating an accountable and effective army?. Comparative Strategy, 42(2)
- Robinson C. (2023). The Bulgarian Land Forces in the Cold War. BULLETIN OF "CAROL I" NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, 12(3)
- Robinson CD. (2022). A Generation of Mysteries?. Journal of African Military History, 6(1)
- Robinson CD. (2022). Why Did Rebuilding the Afghan and Iraqi Armies Fail?. The RUSI Journal, 167(4-5)
- Robinson CD. (2022). Addendum: The Sudanese Army’s History 1953–1970s. Journal of African Military History, 6(2)
- Robinson CD. (2022). Addendum: The Sudanese Army's History 1953-1970s. JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MILITARY HISTORY, 6(2)
- Robinson CD. (2022). A Generation of Mysteries? Sketching the Threads of the Sudanese Armed Forces' First Quarter Century (c. 1953-1976). JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MILITARY HISTORY, 6(1)
- Robinson CD. (2021). A forgotten decade? Politicking and war for the ANC/FAZ 1967-1977. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 32(7)
- Robinson CD. (2021). Rebuilding armies in southern Somalia: What currently should donors realistically aim for?. Conflict, Security & Development, 21(3)
- Robinson CD & Matisek J. (2021). Military advising and assistance in Somalia: fragmented interveners, fragmented Somali military forces. Defence Studies, 21(2)
- Robinson CD & Matisek J. (2020). Assistance to Locally Appropriate Military Forces in Southern Somalia. The RUSI Journal, 165(4)
- Robinson CD. (2020). Political and Military Obstacles to the North African Regional Capability. The Middle East Journal, 74(3)
- Robinson CD. (2020). The U.S. Navy's task forces: 1–199. Defense & Security Analysis, 36(1)
- Robinson CD. (2019). The Somali National Army: an assessment. Defense & Security Analysis, 35(2)
- Robinson CD. (2019). Glimpse into an army at its peak: notes on the Somali National Army in the 1960–80s. Defense & Security Analysis, 35(4)
- Robinson CD. (2018). What explains the failure of U.S. army reconstruction in Afghanistan?. Defense & Security Analysis, 34(3)
- Robinson C. (2017). Suvorov’s ‘Invisible’ Divisions: A Preliminary Assessment. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 30(3)
- Robinson C. (2017). How might Democratisation Affect Military Professionalism in Africa? Reviewing the Literature. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 28(2)
- Robinson C. (2016). Revisiting the rise and fall of the Somali Armed Forces, 1960–2012. Defense & Security Analysis, 32(3)
- Robinson C. (2014). The Eastern Africa Standby Force: History and Prospects. International Peacekeeping, 21(1)
- Robinson C. (2012). Army reconstruction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2003–2009. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 23(3)
- Robinson C. (2006). Update on the Russian Ground Troops. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 19(1)
- Robinson C. (2005). The Russian Ground Forces Today: A Structural Status Examination. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 18(2)
Books
- Robinson C. (2019). Assessing Defence Reform Since 1990 In SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace (13). Springer International Publishing.
- Atieno C & Robinson C. (2019). Introduction In SpringerBriefs in Environment, Security, Development and Peace (13). Springer International Publishing.