DR CHRISTOPHER TUCK The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (SDSR15) document is in many respects both muscular and ambitious. It has a global focus, taking the view that ‘engagement is not an optional extra’ on the basis that domestic and international security are now linked inextricably. It argues for the need to ‘act decisively’… Read More SDSR 15: Five Questions
This post is based on a seminar series talk organised by King’s College London’s Regional Security Research Centre (RSRC), which took place on 24 November 2015. By DR AVINASH PALIWAL As the UK tries to reenergise its economy, manage its diverging interests with the US and the EU, and debate its role in the Middle East (especially the… Read More Tale of Two Visits: THE UK’s Outreach to China and India
ANNA BRINKMAN The creation of foreign policy and the prosecution of war are often largely dependent on the personalities and circumstances of those in power. This is, perhaps, a disconcerting truth that can be mitigated by the development of international law, alliances, and multilateral or unilateral treaties. The mitigation, however, only goes so far, as… Read More The Antigallican Affair: British Foreign Policy and the Personalities of the Spanish Court in the Seven Years’ War
DR JILL RUSSELL To clarify in advance: I am not a wanton proponent of war or the use of force. I do not pretend that air strikes are an answer on their own. With those disclaimers out of the way, it is also important to understand when force is a necessary component to policy. ISIS,… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: The Political Calculus on ISIS Has Changed
DR CHRISTOPHER TUCK After much controversy, Britain is now bombing ISIL targets in Syria. But the intensity of the debates surrounding the decision to bomb is unlikely to be rewarded by any immediate commensurate outcomes on the ground. Britain’s decision to bomb Syria is largely therefore of symbolic importance. That doesn’t mean, however, that the… Read More The Uk Decision on Syria: Bombing Syria matters: Britain’s involvement doesn’t
DR DAVID B ROBERTS An outline of a modus vivendi with Russia is required if there is to be any progress in the fight against Da’esh. Otherwise, the vaunted 70,000 strong ‘moderate’ forces will continue to be attacked by Russia. Indeed, their bombing campaign to date has been almost exclusively focused on forces other than… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: The Only Solution Is a Political Solution
BILL PARK Yesterday’s vote approving the PM’s desire to bandwagon with the UK’s US and French NATO allies in bombing IS targets in Syria will make little difference to the majority of Syrians. The British strikes against oil facilities that came in the immediate wake of the vote might make a small dent in IS’s… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: Lions roar, mice squeak – the response of a ‘terrorist sympathiser’
DR TRACEY GERMAN The news that the British parliament had sanctioned airstrikes against IS in Syria, and that the first missions had taken place, has been widely reported in Russia. The move is likely to be seen as vindication for Russia’s ongoing operation there: with the French launching airstrikes against Syria at the end of… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: The View From Russia
DR CHRIS TRIPODI It’s genuinely interesting, as an historian, to contemplate the current furore over whether Britain should physically commit itself to taking action against Islamic State forces in Syria. Not because we have greater insight or intellectual authority with respect to the debate at hand, or that we are uniquely qualified to predict what… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: The (F)utility of History
DR GERAINT HUGHES Harold Wilson once noted that a week was a long time in politics, and the current Leader of the Opposition may well agree with him. On Sunday 29th November Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC not only that he opposed proposals for Britain to participate in coalition air-strikes against Islamic State (IS) in… Read More The UK Decision on Syria: The Labour Party and Air-Strikes against Islamic State
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