While defence is one of the dominant issues in the 2024 general election campaign, discussion of the appalling implications of a next world war is absent. With politicians unable to grasp the possibility and necessity for change, Sean Howard argues that genuinely deliberative democracy such as citizens’ assemblies is essential to let the people decide on the UK’s future defence posture.
Monarchy, the Military and Democracy
The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth was a carefully choreographed reminder of the symbolic unity of the British monarchy, militarism, Church and empire. Diana Francis reflects on how these linkages both determine and distract from the crisis of our deeply flawed democracy and undermine the interests of ordinary people.
The British Military, Democracy and the Limits of ‘Legitimate Debate’
The UK’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan went badly wrong, but who was to blame? In response to Simon Akam’s controversial new book The Changing of the Guard, Paul Dixon questions why the military command’s undemocratic political influence in promoting these wars has not been discussed more widely.