As the Easter break comes into sight, we would like to take this opportunity to look back on the year to date and point to what will be coming up on Defence-in-Depth over the spring and summer.

The last three months have seen a number of developments and anniversaries which have warranted expert comment from members of DSD, spanning topics from a potential Brexit, Russia’s new security strategy and some of the implications of SDSR 2015. We have also run series on the Battle of Verdun (I, II and III available here), an IS (DAISH) roundtable and a feature on Article Writing Month.

This has resulted in an ever-expanding readership for Defence-in-Depth drawn from across the globe, encompassing over 100 countries and counting. This wide base of support has enabled us to reach over 100,000 total views earlier this year, sharing the Department’s research with a wide range of audiences.

Looking forward, next time promises to be a busy time in DSD’s research calendar. May will see a symposium on the centenary of the Battle of Jutland and the First World War at Sea, which will bring together academics from three continents to discuss the latest research on the topic and what it means for maritime warfare today. In June the Strategy and Defence Policy Group will be hosting a ‘Full Spectrum Deterrence’ event to broader the existing discourse on the topic. July will see DSD host a conference on NATO, and the involved academics will be sharing their expert opinions on the matters discussed on Defence-in-Depth. The Second World War Research Group will also be holding a workshop on ‘1940-1942: The Fulcrum of the Twentieth Century’, the proceedings of which will also feature on the blog.

Finally, we would like thank each and everyone of our contributors and readers for your continued support. Our goal is to continue to provide you with top quality and well founded opinion and content surfacing from research from the Defence Studies Department. For those readers who have yet to subscribe to the email function or followed the blog, buttons for each of these features can be found in the sidebar and at the bottom of the page. Research from the Defence Studies Department can also be followed via our Twitter account – @DefenceResearch and via our Facebook page.

We wish you all happy and well earned end of term break.