Rethinking Security

Digesting the UK's new National Security Strategy- Security Policy and Practice | BISA - Security Policy and Practice Working Group

If you missed it last month, don't miss the recording of the @mybisa.bsky.social session discussing the UK's new National Security Strategy, featuring
@christinecheng.bsky.social, @joedevanny.bsky.social, Lewis Brooks, Paul Rogers, Claire Duncanson & Will Jessett.

www.bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

Palestine Action ban is an attack on fundamental freedoms | Letter A letter from 52 scholars including Tariq Ali, Judith Butler, Angela Davis, Naomi Klein and Avi Shlaim

"We remind the UK government that its own most urgent priorities should already be determined by its binding obligation “to prevent and to punish” genocide."

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/a...

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 con…

"Let the signals we send be those of peace, and the knots we tie symbolise how our fates are bound inextricably together."

Kirsten Bayes

A beautifully written reflection via @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social that connects many dots.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/08/06/d...

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 con…

🚨New!

80 years on from the nuclear devastation of Hiroshima, the UK & Europe are rearming at breakneck pace. Kirsten Bayes reflects on the waning of arms controls and rise of the politics of distraction and demonization, suggesting three crucial responses.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/08/06/d...

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 Ha…

🚨New on the Blog:

After 25 years of bipartisan commitment to Women Peace & Security, the UK gov't suddenly seems loath to mention or fund it. @tonihaastrup.bsky.social
& @jamiejhagen.bsky.social make the case for gender equality & inclusion in UK policy.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/08/04/2...

Revitalizing European Security: The Legacy of the Helsinki Accords 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 …

50 years ago today, the Helsinki Accords were signed by 35 states, incl. all NATO & Warsaw Pact members, ushering in a new rights-based security order in Europe.
Sean Howard explores how Europe needs to revitalise the spirit of Helsinki now more than ever.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/30/o...

Revitalizing European Security: The Legacy of the Helsinki Accords 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 …

🚨New on the Blog:

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Accords, which created the CSCE/OSCE and shaped the European security architecture for the next four decades. Sean Howard argues Europe must urgently revitalise that spirit now.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/30/o...

Call to ‘rethink security’ at National Justice and Peace conference - The Tablet Keynote speaker Dr Joanna Frew criticised the UK government’s current notion of national security as being “too state-centric”, justifying more military

'A call to “rethink security for a just peace” was made at last weekend’s annual National Justice and Peace Network conference [in Derbyshire] by the outreach coordinator of Rethinking Security.'

www.thetablet.co.uk/news/call-to...

Why What We Don’t Know About Nuclear Weapons Spending Is a Problem - Ploughshares ICAN's new report details how nuclear spending is an aspect of nuclear policy kept from the public and policy makers.

What don't we know about nuclear spending? And why is that a ✨huge✨ problem?

For our Story Center, @nuclearban.bsky.social's Alicia Sanders-Zakre (@azakre.bsky.social) dives into ICAN's June report: "Hidden Costs: Nuclear Weapons Spending in 2024." ⬇️
ploughshares.org/article/ican...

This week’s ruling by the ICJ says nations should take responsibility for emissions caused overseas by their investment decisions at home.

UK Gov must now urgently halt its reckless plans for polluting fossil fuel based carbon capture—or risk breaching international law.

US nuclear weapons return to UK Why do we not know if US nuclear weapons are about to return to the UK? Because British sovereignty over military-decision making has been surrendered to the United States and NATO, argues Ian Davi…

Two cargoes of US nuclear bombs have now reportedly landed at RAF Lakenheath, marking first time in 17 years that such US weapons have been based in the UK. Neither UK nor US gov't is saying anything. Parliament is out until September.
All should read:

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2023/10/10/w...

The Legacy of Pugwash: Science and Peace in a Nuclear World Civil society organisations can and do have a significant role to play in building sustainable security. The story of Pugwash, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organisation that deals with issues at t…

🚨New on the Blog:

As part of our series ‘Stories of People- and Planet-centred Cooperation’, Tim Street tells the story of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs' successful work influencing arms control and reducing risks from nuclear weapons.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/22/p...

A post by Dr @alexgilder.bsky.social

Fantastic discussion of the UK National Security Strategy from a brilliant cast of academics and practitioners in today's meeting.

Resharing Richard Reeve's take on the NSS, as mentioned in the session:

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

Continued denial that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza “will cause unmitigated damage not just to the people of Gaza and Israel but also to the system of international law established in the wake of the horrors of the Holocaust, designed to prevent such atrocities from happening ever again.”

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…

🚨New Blog article:

NATO endorsed a Human Security approach in 2022 but this year's Hague Summit was silent on it. @alexgilder.bsky.social of Reading University & @rusi.bsky.social makes the case for Human Security staying on NATO’s agenda.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/15/h...

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 off the looming real…

The UK’s latest National Security Strategy heralds a radical redistribution from social spending to defence. Richard Reeve argues that it also represents a fundamental abandonment of an 8-decade project to learn the catastrophic lessons of World War Two.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

A very positive cross-party initiative to force the UK government to be proactive in preventing genocide. Kudos to Lord Alton, Richard Foord🔶, Blair McDougall🌹, Brendan O'Hara🟨, Baroness Helic🔵 and others for pushing on this.

Join us next Thursday 17 July at 11.30 for an online discussion of the UK’s new National Security Strategy.

@warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

Digesting the UK's new national security strategy On 24 June 2025, the UK government published a new National Security Strategy, subtitled 'Security for the British People in a Dangerous World'. Bringing together a number of reviews that have been in...

🚨Calling all scholars in to National Security Strategy.

Thu 17/07, 11.30 - BISA Security Policy & Practice event, including:

Will Jessett
Paul Rogers
@christinecheng.bsky.social
@joedevanny.bsky.social
Lewis Brooks, @saferworld.bsky.social
@cpduncanson.bsky.social

indico.bisa.ac.uk/event/563/

🚨New Event - 16 July, 6pm

We are delighted to announce another collaboration with our friends at @HopeFTFuture supporting political engagement on climate and conflict.

Sign up for free at: www.hftf.org.uk/event/climat...

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 re…

"Far more useful, had Starmer allowed his team the time and space to do so, would have been for government to ask the people how they define their wellbeing and security and what they would prioritise."

Analysis from @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

How did it work for Sweden?

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 re…

Incredibly strong article by Richard Reeve at @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social regarding the dangerous and short-sighted miscalculations in Labours new Security Strategy.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

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 re…

Excellent analysis of UK National Security Strategy by R. Reeves @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social that speaks of providing security for people but does not consult them, rushes enthusiastically towards more insecurity & never reflects on what keeps us safe. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

Thanks Rob! Nice to see you on BlueSky.

Excellent critique of the UK NSS from Richard Reeve pointing out the gaps and contradictions. ‘Nothing in the rest of the strategy suggests any effort to uphold [freedom, democracy and internationalism]; there are actually more mentions of how they may need to be compromised and traded off.’

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 off the looming real…

The UK’s latest National Security Strategy heralds a radical redistribution from social spending to defence. Richard Reeve argues that it also represents a fundamental abandonment of an 8-decade project to learn the catastrophic lessons of World War Two.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/09/d...

The National Security Strategy the peacebuilding sector hoped for vs the one the UK delivered There was much hope within the conflict prevention community and beyond that the new UK National Security Strategy (NSS) – published last week – could be a much more comprehensive response to the inte...

Good piece from @saferworld.bsky.social on what the National Security Strategy could have been.

"The UK’s efforts on gender-responsive conflict prevention & resolution are left deprioritised & incoherent at a time when they are needed more than ever"

www.saferworld-global.org/resources/ne...

The Evolution of UN 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…

🚨New on the Blog:

@davidmanus.bsky.social from the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University talks about the value and importance of UN peacekeeping, an area with a bold vision but a chequered record of achieving human and sustainable security.

rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/07/01/t...