Timothy Julian Howard (Mr)

Proposed Thesis Title: Imperial Rivalries, British Foreign Policy and Imperial Defence, 1885-1914
Supervisor: Professor Brian Farrell

I return to graduate studies after almost fifteen years to pursue a lifelong passion for history and international studies. Having been fortunate enough to live, study and work in the UK, US and Asia, I am now fortunate to call Singapore my home for the past twelve years, and am excited to pursue my studies at N.U.S.

During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the quest to establish colonies and stake out spheres of influence became a central theme of Great Power statecraft, provoking a ‘scramble’ to establish stronger positions within a burgeoning new world order. This period of ‘new imperialism,’ now itself an aging label, was defined by sharply escalating rivalries between Great Power empires. Standing squarely in the middle of this upheaval, in every respect, was the British Empire. The British imperial project was the most far-flung, attenuated, and discontinuous of Great Power empires, it stood the most to lose from violent change, and relied most heavily on a now global political economy.

For thirty volatile years, as the British sought to adjust to ‘relative decline’ and the need to reorient defence in a more dangerous world, their “Indian connection’ became the central arena of discussion and decision. This thesis will explain why this was so, what wider effects this had, and how this made both British decision-making systems, and the British strategic position, unique, and uniquely important, during this era of ‘high imperialism’ and geo-political reordering.

When not working and studying, I enjoy travel, reading and sports – following football while trying to find enough time for squash and international lacrosse officiating.