Tracey German The perceived threat posed to Russia from so-called coloured revolutions – popular uprisings attributed by Moscow to malign sponsorship by external forces – has become a central theme in Russian security discourse. There is a deep-rooted concern that coloured revolutions are part of the character of conflict in the 21st century, a new… Read More Colouring Russian views of conflict in the 21st century
Geraint Hughes Following Anna Karenina’s suicide in Tolstoy’s eponymous novel, her lover Count Vronsky enlists to fight for the Serbs against the Turks. Vronsky’s decision reflected the contemporary reality of Russian volunteers taking up arms against the Ottoman Empire during the Balkan crises that preceded the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, and it provides a reminder… Read More Historical Reflections On The ‘Grey Zone’
Geraint Hughes The terms ‘defence diplomacy’ and ‘defence engagement’ are used to describe some of the aspects of military activity that fall outside the direct use of force. These can include multinational exercises, the diplomatic liaison work of military attachés posted at embassies, port visits by naval vessels, the provision of training teams and loan… Read More Defence Diplomacy in the Cold War: The Experiences of British Military Attachés in Egypt, 1968-1973
Rod Thornton As the United Kingdom struggles to cope with the effects of the Covid-19 virus, it is becoming clearer just how weak the county’s state resilience system is. Shortages of the most basic of medical items indicates a system that is not prepared to deal with times of extreme duress. The option of last… Read More Covid-19 and why state resilience in the United Kingdom needs to be strengthened: The link to the changing character of war and lessons from Russia
Rod Thornton and Marina Miron Contrary to its normal positioning in terms of defence policy, the United Kingdom has come across as notably aggressive when it comes to advertising its offensive cyber warfare capabilities. Indeed, ‘Britain’ as one Russian source accusingly – and accurately – puts it, was ‘the first country in the world to… Read More Deterring Russian cyber warfare: the practical, legal and ethical constraints faced by the United Kingdom
Dr James Bosbotinis The following article is based on a forthcoming paper, ‘The UK and Maritime Power’, which will be published in the journal Etudes Marines, a publication of the French Centre for Maritime Strategic Studies (CESM). As the UK enters the 2020s, it is confronted by a strategic system in flux. This is particularly… Read More British Maritime Strategy in the 2020s
This post is the second in an ongoing series showcasing interdisciplinary research in the Defence Studies Department. You can read the first here. Alex Gould In recent decades, new public-private policing governance structures everywhere have constituted new forms of authority and political order in the contemporary world. Abrahamsen and Williams have argued that the security… Read More Sovereign Control and Ocean Governance in the Regulation of Maritime Private Policing
Dr. Michael Gunther The Sultanate of Oman occupies an important strategic position in the world as the state responsible for the southern portion of the Straits of Hormuz. For nearly fifty years, Sultan Qaboos bin Said steered Oman’s national strategy as its chief of state, senior diplomat, and commander of the armed forces. He followed… Read More Sultan Qaboos of Oman’s Policy of Strategic Neutrality
To see in the New Year, Defence-in-Depth is re-publishing its three most-viewed posts of 2019. At No. 1, Ben Wheatley’s new research on the visual record of the Battle of Prokhorovka. BEN WHEATLEY Ben Wheatley is a Honorary Research Fellow in the School of History, University of East Anglia and a former Teaching Fellow at… Read More In Pursuit of Prokhorovka
To see in the New Year, Defence-in-Depth is re-publishing its three most-viewed posts of 2019. At No. 2, a post from the MRes programme on the evolving concept of the operational level, and its utility in operational planning processes today. JONATHAN L This post is the second of two articles on the operational planning process… Read More The unfortunate operational level: Five good reasons to review our operational level structures.
