Oxford University Society Holiday Dinner 2017 — Remarks
The Oxford University Society of Washington, DC celebrated the Annual Holiday Dinner 2017 last night. It was a singular honor to introduce the evening’s honorary speaker, Dr. Jonathan Ward, a historian, geopolitical expert and China-India relations specialist. These were my remarks.
Mr. President, Madame Secretary, fellow board members and esteemed Oxonian guests:
Annual Dinner and noblesse oblige, let us recognize the Cambridge Women team, who ended Oxford’s four-year winning streak at this year’s Boat Race.
The Dark Blues responded by securing their 80th victory in the men’s race.
On that Oxford-leading-Cambridge note, I am delighted to welcome you all tonight and introduce our honorary speaker, Dr. Jonathan Ward.
Dr. Jonathan Ward is the founder of Atlas Organization, a Washington D.C. and New York based consultancy focused on Chinese and Indian national strategy. He completed his PhD at Oxford, specializing in China-India relations.
Dr. Ward studied Philosophy, Russian, and Chinese language at Columbia University as an undergraduate, and then spent five years living and traveling extensively throughout Russia, China, India, Latin America, and the Middle East. He speaks Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic.
Dr. Ward has an impressive record of achievement as a “big thinker”, indeed.
But, I must warn you, if your idea of a vacation revolves around long, contemplative walks on the beach, Dr. Ward might not be a match (since this era and the Millennials are all about matching; the world has become one gigantic match, preferably via artificial intelligence. God forbid, humans).
You will rather find him hitchhiking with truck drivers throughout Tibet, on a cargo ship across the South China Sea, venturing in remote regions of the contested Russia-China border areas, and living in Damascus, Syria at the start of the Arab Spring.
Earlier today, as I prepared this introduction I paused here and tried to picture Dr. Ward. I settled on fellow Oxonian T.E. Lawrence.
Dr. Ward is just as adventurous, but with more substance and meaning, I thought.
Where Lawrence is busy leading armed revolts, you’ll find Dr. Ward consulting on geostrategic issues for Oxford Analytica, UK’s leading political risk consultancy, and for the U.S. Department of Defense, or working on a new book on China’s global strategy, instead of, say, attacking an Ottoman outpost.
With the caveat that I don’t know what he likes to do in his spare time.
In all seriousness, tonight we are privileged to have with us such a fine historian, geopolitical expert and practitioner. Among other distinctions, Dr. Ward is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the Energy Institute, and the Economic Research Council in London.
He also maintains two affiliations with our alma mater, as a Research Associate at the Changing Character of War Programme, and as a Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford China Centre.
In addition to his PhD, he has a M.St. from Oxford in Global and Imperial History. He is also a graduate of the Oxford-Chicago Valuation Programme, a program in finance and valuation co-hosted by the University of Oxford’s Said Business School and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
Dr. Ward, the floor is yours.
Thank you, enjoy dinner, and God Save the Queen.
Flavius Mihaies
Vice-President, Oxford University Society of Washington, DC
