Program Description
Event Details
This June marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. America’s victory not only turned the tide against Japan in the central Pacific, it turned the key that interlocked Allied advantage across three oceans. Winston Churchill believed Midway helped secure command of the Indian Ocean at the critical moment in 1942 and thereby laid the foundation for the subsequent Allied victories at Alamein and Stalingrad. In short, Midway proved the adage that the ocean is one. Although historians, especially in recent years, have increasingly come to emphasize this global perspective, they still tend to miss how Midway’s example illuminates the significance of later ‘sideshows’—not least the Falklands War of 1982—and remains instructive in the twenty-first century.
This is a hybrid event, meaning it will be held both in-person and over Zoom. Registration is required only for the digital component. Once you register, a Zoom link will be sent to your provided email address shortly before the start time.
John Brobst is an associate professor of history at Ohio University, where he teaches courses on the British Empire, geopolitics, and naval history. He is the author of The Future of the Great Game: Sir Olaf Caroe, India’s Independence, and the Defense of Asia, and is currently completing a book about maritime strategy in the Indian Ocean during the Cold War. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. in history from the University of Kansas.