This Friday 22 May at 4pm (UK) Our Coordinator @RJ_Reeve will join a webinar panel to discuss Who provides security? Who decides on security? For whom? With @icipeace.bsky.social, @cidobbarcelona.bsky.social, @minesadvisorygroup.bsky.social & @essecbs.bsky.social. www.icip.cat/en/event/web...

In our work advocating rethinking security we continually find the UK mainstream media is the most difficult sector to reach and influence, (either) because it (i.e. its owners) favours militarisation and/or it self-censors evidence of crisis/failure. Climate action used to be an exception. No more.

Happy 100th birthday to David Attenborough. According to @luketryl.bsky.social, easily the closest the UK public comes to consensus on a fantasy prime minister. Never wiser than 5 years ago when addressing the UN Security Council on the urgency of rethinking security. bbc.co.uk/news/av/scie...

New on the Blog: 'The Dangerous Logic of Europeanizing Nuclear Deterrence' Ian Davis of @natowatch.bsky.social and Tytti Erästö of @sipri.org question the dangerous framing and flawed logic of Franco-German proposals for a nuclearized future Europe. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/05/05/t...

Really interesting paper by @carnegieuk.bsky.social on Wales' Future Generations Act - so much learning around changing behaviour via legislation that's applicable to other countries and sectors too carnegieuk.org/publication/...

Apart from the staggering figures involved (US$2.9 trillion overall in 2025), a useful visualisation of quite how much the world spends on its military in real terms, even relative to the late Cold War. And almost 50% more than in 2015.

Roundtable: 'UK public opinion on security & military spending' - 30 April Dr Tom Martin of @openuniversity.bsky.social & Dr Francesco Rigoli of @citystgeorges.bsky.social will share findings & discuss implications for policy-makers, practitioners & activists. Register: bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

On-the-money editorial in the Guardian today putting SDR authors' pitch to bankroll the UK's supporting role in US empire in its proper context. theguardian.com/commentisfre...

With pressure mounting on the PM to up the pace of UK military spending increases, he'll find no easy political solutions. Michael Brzoska & Ian Davis argue that neither the case for spending increases nor trade-offs necessary to achieve them has been made. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/04/15/p...

With some comments from us The defence industry’s revolving door - @prospect_uk Military AI company Helsing has hired or has as advisers former Number 10 press secretary, former MoD special adviser, two former ministers and former chief of the defence staff general @caatuk.bsky.social

All true, yet in a global context of grotesque inequality, aggressive imperial war and conquest, extraordinary US exceptionalism, hypocrisy and complicity in genocide and other war crimes, none of this is net positive for the rest of the world, certainly not for the world beyond the Global West.

Today is a good day to read @dronewarsuk.bsky.social's briefing on the USAF use of RAF Fairford for air strikes against Iran. Today is the day the UK government must stop all US combat aircraft flying from its bases, whether in the UK, Cyprus or Diego Garcia. dronewars.net/wp-content/u...

We’re excited to share our next free event on militarism and the politics of education! We’ll be joined by Professor Anna Stavrianakis, Khem Rogaly, Dr Sam Perlo-Freeman, and Jinsella Kennaway. Sign up for tickets below 👇 📅Tue 26 May 2026 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM BST 🧪 www.sgr.org.uk/events/milit...

This week the MoD released its Defence Diplomacy Strategy, replacing the Int'l Defence Engagement Strategy of 2017. No big reveals. It's solid, NATO-First stuff. But worth a quick check-in on what's in/up and what's out/down compared to the 'Global Britain' era IDES. www.gov.uk/government/p...

A moving and joyous memorial service for our friend and mentor Simon Fisher this afternoon. Simon was one of the great thinkers, writers and practitioners of conflict transformation and helped to inspire, found and guide RS over his last decade. His legacy is immense. Famba naye.

In the face of escalating war, Hannah Brock Womack shares how to keep pushing back against the idea that conflict is inevitable. www.quaker.org.uk/blog/don-t-b...

"Not to course correct now means not only heading for a permanent war economy but following the course to permanent war." Latest from Richard Reeve @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social with a title that says it all. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/03/09/p...

Thought-provoking as ever from Richard R @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social on the codependency of the ‘special relationship’ and the UK’s strategic national security options

As US bombers & special forces deploy at British bases, the UK is getting sucked into another major war in the Middle East. Richard Reeve analyses how delusions of status & influence condemn the UK to repeating past mistakes & exacerbating dangerous crises. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/03/09/p...

Paul Rogers spoke at the Northern Friends Peace Board meeting last weekend just as the bombing of Iran began. His analysis was that we are at the most dangerous moment for decades. This weekend he spoke to @owenjones.bsky.social and his insights are, as always, very helpful youtu.be/VT-mk2HOsNo?...

This may be stating the obvious, but nonetheless it needs saying and repeating.

Why do we need to rethink security?

Excellent statement on the US/Israeli attacks on Iran from @una-uk.bsky.social.

🚨New on the Blog: How helpful is it to let spooks and national security actors define the climate and ecological crisis? Civil society needs to speak up if we’re to avoid the dead-end securitisation of the climate crisis, argues Doug Weir of @ceobs.org. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/03/03/n...

Some good letters in the Guardian today on the current campaign to surge spending to the dysfunctional MoD and disingenuous calls for a national or 'continental conversation' on security, including from our Coordinator, @quaker.org.uk & @nortontaylor.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

“This additional £130bn per year [of military spending] ... has not been set by Britain's security needs ... it was set by the US and will mean we have fewer resources for other key priorities ... mak[ing] our country weaker over the long run.”   Khem Rogaly on LBC News. 👇

There's so much of our security polycrisis that an "honest, continent-wide conversation w/ the public" could be covering. Instead we have a post-MSC barrage of influence operations via the uncritical press, occluding any element of conversation, public or honesty. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Cuts to overseas aid by the UK are set to go further and faster than those made by the Trump administration in the US, as Sir Keir Starmer’s government wrestles with funding pressures www.ft.com/content/ad52...

🚨New on the Blog: The UK military still recruits children, despite ethical considerations, higher costs, lower outcomes of training, & the inability to deploy under-18s operationally. Jim Patrick Wyke makes the case for a more efficient all-adult military. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/02/13/b...

Our response to the publication of the Representation of the People Bill 👇 🔗 www.faircomment.co.uk/p/statement-...

Hard to think of a dumber 21st Century energy and security policy than Trump's insistence that the Pentagon buy more coal power. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

The Genocide Convention imposes obligations on states & individuals not just to punish the crime of genocide but to actively prevent it. Carne Ross assesses the UK government & its officials' complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/10/07/i...

The JIC/DEFRA report on ecosystem collapse "provides a powerful vindication of certain messages that, when voiced by environmentalists, have been greeted with hatred, fury and denial. "But what was cut from the report is, according to The Times, even graver..." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

New article: How Europe should respond to Trump’s threats over Greenland Ian Davis considers how European states might respond to US sanctions & potential annexation of Greenland, arguing that planning should start now for a post-NATO security architecture in Europe & the Arctic. lnkd.in/eq4bDepB

Essential Reading: Global Biodiversity Loss, Ecosystem Collapse and National Security. UK gov't used yesterday to release/bury a long-embargoed report, compiled by the Joint Intelligence Committee but released by DEFRA. It's exactly what should have been in the NSS. www.gov.uk/government/p...

This new global initiative to rethink security from Achim Steiner of @oxmartinschool.bsky.social is necessary in so many ways. It aims "to contribute to a security narrative that is both realistic about risk & confident about humanity’s capacity to respond." www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/blog/rethink...

New long read: Strategising for Peace in the New Age of Empire The US National Security Strategy underlines a shift from liberalism to overt imperialism. Larry Attree discusses how the UK can oppose these dangerous trends & promote a more peaceful future. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/12/11/s...

Over 25,000 people have already signed the letter to Keir Starmer and national broadcasters calling for a televised emergency briefing. www.nebriefing.org/open-letter-... #NEB2025

New Event - BISA Security Policy & Practice - 09 Dec, 10am *Efforts to end the Israel-Palestine conflict* This event offers space for scholars & peacebuilders to share their perspectives about roadmaps for peace within Israel, Palestine & at regional & int'l levels. bisa.ac.uk/members/work...

We are pleased to have signed on to this letter to the PM calling for an urgent rethink of the government's ill-thought, uncosted plan to acquire F-35A jets for the NATO 'tactical nuclear' role.

Wars affecting every corner of the globe, military spending at a record high, and 1.5 degrees breached. Our #COP30 preview wonders what, if anything, will be delivered on conflict, climate and militarism. ceobs.org/cop30-what-t...

RS's Jo Frew joined UK & EU peace orgs in London to call on UK & French gov'ts to end their collaboration on developing nuclear arsenals and to collaborate instead on real threats to human security such as climate change, wealth inequality and failing democracy. www.indcatholicnews.com/news/53608

🚨New on the Blog: Hyping ‘small modular reactors’ is all the rage. But with the tech still some 15 years from maturity, Ian Lowe argues that SMRs are an expensive & risky distraction from rapidly building safer, cleaner & cheaper renewable energy capacity. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/11/05/a...

There was no opportunity for outsiders to input to this year's National Security Strategy but the Joint Committee on the NSS currently has an inquiry into the NSS, which has recently published our evidence submission. committees.parliament.uk/writtenevide...

🚨New on the Blog: What are the deep assumptions that the UK's 'national security' narrative feeds off? How can a counter-narrative harness other national values and stories to plot a course towards a more stable and peaceful world? Joanna Frew reports. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/10/21/c...

"Militaries have to be understood...as climate threats", accounting for more emissions than shipping and aviation combined. Khem Rogaly of @transitionsec.bsky.social on the latest episode of New Economics Podcast discussing how the UK became a global arms dealer. 🎧 neweconomics.org/2025/10/how-...

🚨New on the Blog: 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 uncertainty over the future. rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2025/10/16/r...

A fantastic opportunity for ant-nuclear activists to meet up and learn more about the movement to abolish WMD, in London on 01 November.