Chris Parry has an international reputation for his penetrating analysis and stimulating articulation of a wide range of geopolitical, strategic and security themes. He is one of the UK’s top strategic thinkers and forecasters, whose assessments about the future have consistently proved extremely accurate and are considered amongst the best in the field by governments, the City, the academic world and a variety of national and international institutions.
He is the author of several publications on operational best practice, future trends and strategic leadership. His most recent venues - at universities, companies and institutions in the UK, the US, Europe and elsewhere - have included the US Congress, the UK Houses of Parliament, the French Senàt, numerous City and industrial firms and the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
During an earlier career in the Royal Navy, he saw front-line service all over the world, including operations in Northern Ireland, the Gulf and the Falklands War in 1982, during which he flew operational missions from the destroyer HMS Antrim. At South Georgia, he rescued 16 SAS troopers and the aircrew of two crashed helicopters from Fortuna Glacier during hurricane force winds and atrocious weather conditions. Three days later, he detected and disabled the Argentinian submarine Santa FE as the precursor to re-taking the island. He subsequently commanded a destroyer, an assault ship and an amphibious group.
As a Director and Director-General, he headed two advanced Government thought leadership, research and innovation organizations, tasked with developing future technological and operational concepts and implementing sector-wide best practice and change. He was also the head of the Ministry of Defence’s trouble-shooting unit, directly accountable to Ministers for the maintenance of operational capability; for ensuring continuous improvement and the conduct of high profile public inquiries and operational audits. Finally, as a Rear Admiral, he formed and led the UK Government’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre, where he was responsible for ensuring that UK Armed Forces were fully fit for purpose in ongoing operations and out to 2025. This involved the detailed analysis and identification of the most likely trends and features of the future strategic landscape, based on extensive cross-dimensional studies of historic behaviour, human activity and emerging contexts.
Today, he keeps busy with a wide range of executive, non-executive and consultancy roles, as well as with a diverse academic and writing career. He is also the President of a Rugby League Club.
For each event, Chris produces a precisely tailored, entertaining and original presentation, in line with the particular needs and expectations of his audience, containing leading-edge themes and insights gained both from rigorous cross-disciplinary research, rigorous analysis and his own experience. His talks are designed to challenge conventional thinking and stimulate innovative approaches.
