The UK's latest defence and security reviews set out a simple but effective narrative of an embattled UK in need of urgent military and societal mobilisation amid "radical uncertainty" and a "dangerous world". But what are the deeper assumptions that this dangerous narrative feeds off? And how can a counter-narrative harness other national values and … Continue reading ‘Dangerous World’, Dangerous Narrative: Countering the National Security Strategy’s Assumptions
How can we build on the ‘radical peace’ made in Northern Ireland?
Among the UK and Ireland’s greatest successes of the last century has been the achievement of peace in Northern Ireland. Almost three decades on, Larry Attree asked five key experts how peace and security was built in Northern Ireland, and what is now needed to sustain it in the face of unrest, social division and … Continue reading How can we build on the ‘radical peace’ made in Northern Ireland?
Drawing Circles: Reflections on Hiroshima Day and European rearmament
Eighty years on from the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima, the UK and Europe are rearming at breakneck pace, including with more US nuclear weapons. Kirsten Bayes reflects on the waning of arms controls and the rise of the politics of distraction and demonization, suggesting three crucial responses. During my teenage years in 1980s rural Essex, … Continue reading Drawing Circles: Reflections on Hiroshima Day and European rearmament
25 Years of Women, Peace and Security in the UK: An opportunity to align feminist commitments at home and abroad
After a quarter-century of bipartisan British commitment to the Women Peace and Security agenda, the current Labour government suddenly seems loath to mention or fund it. Toni Haastrup and Jamie J. Hagen make the case for reprioritising the feminist principles of gender equality and inclusion in UK policy. By Toni Haastrup and Jamie J. Hagen … Continue reading 25 Years of Women, Peace and Security in the UK: An opportunity to align feminist commitments at home and abroad
“Other, more benevolent things”: Revisiting Helsinki to prevent the final act of nuclear war
The Helsinki Accords that helped define the European security order for nearly half-a-century emerged not from the victory or the collapse of one state or bloc, but from compromise amid heightened Cold War tensions. On the 50th anniversary of the Accords, as part of our series ‘Stories of People- and Planet-centred Cooperation’, Sean Howard explores … Continue reading “Other, more benevolent things”: Revisiting Helsinki to prevent the final act of nuclear war
Human Security Must Remain on the NATO Agenda
Since 2022 NATO has endorsed a Human Security approach in relation to its core tasks. Yet its 2025 Summit fell silent on this, among many other issues. Alexander Gilder makes the case for why Human Security must stay on NATO’s agenda in order to bolster the Atlantic alliance’s legitimacy and effectiveness. With rising geopolitical tensions … Continue reading Human Security Must Remain on the NATO Agenda
Don’t Look Up, Don’t Look Down: The radical certainty of Labour’s National Security Strategy
The UK’s latest National Security Strategy heralds a radical redistribution of national resources from social spending to defence. Richard Reeve argues that it not only brushes aside the looming reality of irreversible climate breakdown but also represents a fundamental abandonment of an eight-decade project to learn the catastrophic lessons of World War Two. ‘Security for … Continue reading Don’t Look Up, Don’t Look Down: The radical certainty of Labour’s National Security Strategy
The Evolution of Peacekeeping: A vision of human security partially fulfilled
For our series of ‘Stories of People- and Planet-Centred Cooperation’ we interviewed David Curran from Coventry University’s Research Centre for Peace and Security about the value and importance of UN peacekeeping, an area with a bold vision but a chequered record of achieving human and sustainable security. Most people are familiar with the blue helmets, … Continue reading The Evolution of Peacekeeping: A vision of human security partially fulfilled
Human Security and the Mainstreaming of People in International Relations
For our series of Stories of People- and Planet-Centred Cooperation, we interviewed Zsófia Hacsek of Coventry University about the origins, meaning and impact of the Human Security paradigm. Over three decades, this centring of people and planet has revolutionised thinking about security, but also experienced a backlash from those committed to the ‘national security’ concerns … Continue reading Human Security and the Mainstreaming of People in International Relations
Erased from Security: Why the 2025 SDR fails the Women, Peace and Security agenda
The Strategic Defence Review is sub-titled ‘Making Britain Safer’, so where is human security? Eva Tabbasam argues for the urgent recentring of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in UK defence and security strategies. Just days after attending the third annual Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Forum in Kosovo, themed The Security Code for Our … Continue reading Erased from Security: Why the 2025 SDR fails the Women, Peace and Security agenda
A ‘Peace Lens’ for the New UK National Security Strategy
For twenty years, violent conflicts and related deaths have been spiralling, while forced displacement has nearly doubled in ten years. Why is this happening? And could a ‘peace lens’ help the UK respond more effectively in its forthcoming National Security Strategy? In this short piece, Larry Attree, Hillary Briffa, Thomas Martin and Richard Reeve discuss the challenges and ways forward, drawing on a roundtable convened on 01 May 2025 to explore this question.
International Cooperation, 80 years on from 1945
As we approach another major anniversary of the end of the Second World War (VE80), the international institutions built to prevent such a cataclysmic conflict reoccurring have never seemed so challenged. Amidst the anxiety about where we are headed, politically and diplomatically, it is essential that we communicate the successes of cooperation and sustainable security. Joana Frew summarises some of the critiques of the post-1945 order and begins to look at successes achieved since then. RS will be sharing more such stories of cooperation, success and progress in developing sustainable security in a webinar on 21 May and a series of Blog articles over this year.