This month’s US National Security Strategy underlines an ongoing shift away from liberal values into a new age of empire. In this new long read, Larry Attree discusses how – by rethinking alliances, defence posture, peace and conflict policies, and international cooperation – the UK can oppose these dangerous trends and promote a more peaceful … Continue reading Strategising for Peace in the New Age of Empire
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
Election 2024: Opening a new conversation on sustainable security
Some commentators and politicians are saying that the 2024 general election is all about security and it is clear that the main parties are using the language of ‘security’ frequently. As Rethinking Security publishes a new briefing on five critical security issues, Joanna Frew reflects on this election’s opportunities for creating change in understandings of security.
Drugs, Crime and Conflict: The case against prohibition
The growth and toxic influence of transnational organised crime groups is intimately linked to the prohibition of narcotics. Combined with militarised ‘wars on drugs’ , it is another manifestation of harm and violence perpetrated by the Global North on the Global South. Natalie Sharples argues for legalisation with a focus on producer communities, restorative justice and sustainable peace.
Reinterpreting Security through Images and Stories
After hearing how well the photovoice methods used by our Alternative Security Review research partners at Coventry University worked, Rethinking security’s Outreach Coordinator ran a similar project called Visualising Security with our supporters and friends. The results are now on our website. Here, Joanna Frew provides a personal reflection on the project and its findings. … Continue reading Reinterpreting Security through Images and Stories
The State of Human Security in the UK
Rethinking Security hosted a series of roundtable discussions with civil society groups throughout 2022. We shared some reflections on the blog during the discussions and we are now publishing the full report. It is available to download and here Joanna Frew share a summary of the discussions.
The Urgent Need to Reclaim Security – Join the discussion next week
As Rethinking Security enters the final stages of the Alternative Security Review and we look towards the publication of our Human Security Strategy for the UK, we begin a webinar series on Weds 8th Nov to explore why this is necessary and what human security looks like globally, for communities and for individuals. Read on … Continue reading The Urgent Need to Reclaim Security – Join the discussion next week
Fair Deal Security: Centring people and planet in Lib Dem strategy
Rethinking Security presented its case for a Human Security Strategy at the Lib Dems conference in Bournemouth in September. Richard Reeve here advances five evidenced arguments that should inform Lib Dem policy before the next general election.
The Worries Box: What really makes people feel insecure?
A group of activists in Bath spent the winter collecting the ‘worries’ of their fellow citizens about the future. Their indicative findings suggest a country deeply concerned about the viability of its planet, the misdeeds of its politicians, and a failing and divisive economic system.
The Meaning of the Jenin Raid
The recent Israeli military operation in the Jenin camp marks a change and escalation in Israel’s tactics in the West Bank as it tries to control Palestinian responses to the recent rapid expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied territory, writes Paul Rogers.
Weaponising Sheep: Israeli settler colonialism in the South Hebron Hills
While media attention has focused on devastating Israeli military raids on Jenin and Nablus and land expropriations in East Jerusalem, a slower burning form of violence is being perpetrated by settlers against Palestinian herders in the West Bank, seeking to gain control of their land and livelihoods. Andrew Rigby reports from the South Hebron Hills.
Security and the Politics of Exclusion
If security is such a broad concept, why does security policy so often seek to exclude the most vulnerable from protection? Leonie Mills-Woanya looks at the UK’s approach to international development, border control and policing and finds it consciously polarising and exclusive, not so much from a lack of resources as a lack of political will.