Rethinking Security
@rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social
We're a network of organisations, academics and activists working together for human security based on justice, co-operation and peacebuilding. www.rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
Pinned
Our next webinar:
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
For all its talk of a 'national conversation' on security & defence, the gov't is clearly not going to have one that involves listening to people.
So we've been kicking off our own conversations, and we hope you'll join this one. TONIGHT 6pm.
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
So we've been kicking off our own conversations, and we hope you'll join this one. TONIGHT 6pm.
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
October 7, 2026 at 10:27 AM
For all its talk of a 'national conversation' on security & defence, the gov't is clearly not going to have one that involves listening to people.
So we've been kicking off our own conversations, and we hope you'll join this one. TONIGHT 6pm.
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
So we've been kicking off our own conversations, and we hope you'll join this one. TONIGHT 6pm.
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Join us on Wednesday at 6pm for the first in our new webinar series, on how the 'war-ready' 'national security' discourse is constricting and distorting our political space.
Our next webinar:
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
October 5, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Join us on Wednesday at 6pm for the first in our new webinar series, on how the 'war-ready' 'national security' discourse is constricting and distorting our political space.
Reposted by Rethinking Security
Sign up for this @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social webinar on Wednesday on the UK government's move towards a highly militarised version of national security and how this won't actually make us safer rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Webinar Series
The Strategic Defence Review and National Security Strategy, both published in June 2025, saw the UK government commit decisively to a highly militarised version of national security. In a move awa…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
October 4, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Sign up for this @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social webinar on Wednesday on the UK government's move towards a highly militarised version of national security and how this won't actually make us safer rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
Myself and Jo from @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social have written a response to a recent article in The Friend magazine.
You can read it here (by signing up you get three free articles!) thefriend.org/article/poin...
You can read it here (by signing up you get three free articles!) thefriend.org/article/poin...
Pointing the way: Hannah Brock Womack & Jo Frew want a new approach to shared security | The Friend
‘Ordinary citizens – from peacebuilders to local communities – need to create a different conversation.’| The Friend
thefriend.org
October 1, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Myself and Jo from @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social have written a response to a recent article in The Friend magazine.
You can read it here (by signing up you get three free articles!) thefriend.org/article/poin...
You can read it here (by signing up you get three free articles!) thefriend.org/article/poin...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
Operation Inherent Resolve, US-led Coalition against ISIS in Iraq, ends. All UK forces have left Iraq but UK says Operation Shader continues. www.gov.uk/government/n...
Conclusion of the Global Coalition’s military mission in Iraq
UK-Iraqi security cooperation is set to enter a new phase, as the Global Coalition's military mission against Daesh in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve, successfully concludes and its forces - includi...
www.gov.uk
October 1, 2026 at 7:59 AM
Operation Inherent Resolve, US-led Coalition against ISIS in Iraq, ends. All UK forces have left Iraq but UK says Operation Shader continues. www.gov.uk/government/n...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
Peace works, but it’s under threat. Conflict is on the rise, with more countries involved in violent conflicts than at any time since 1945. The #PeaceWorksReport, developed by a coalition of organisations working to prevent conflict around the world, is a rallying cry for collaboration & action.
Peace Works
Peace Works highlights the costs of conflict globally and to the UK, shows how conflict is changing, and gives examples of where and how peacebuilders have made decisive contributions to the prevention and resolution of violent conflict.
rc-services-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
September 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Peace works, but it’s under threat. Conflict is on the rise, with more countries involved in violent conflicts than at any time since 1945. The #PeaceWorksReport, developed by a coalition of organisations working to prevent conflict around the world, is a rallying cry for collaboration & action.
Reposted by Rethinking Security
🔫🌎 @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social’s upcoming webinar series brings together people and organisations across the peace movement to explore how the UK’s approach to national security is changing and what the implications are for peace and the planet.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
September 29, 2026 at 1:30 PM
🔫🌎 @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social’s upcoming webinar series brings together people and organisations across the peace movement to explore how the UK’s approach to national security is changing and what the implications are for peace and the planet.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
This @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social webinar looks like an important contribution to the debate on what national security actually means and how we can push for policies that address the real issues we face, such as the climate crisis rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Webinar Series
The Strategic Defence Review and National Security Strategy, both published in June 2025, saw the UK government commit decisively to a highly militarised version of national security. In a move awa…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
September 28, 2026 at 5:21 PM
This @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social webinar looks like an important contribution to the debate on what national security actually means and how we can push for policies that address the real issues we face, such as the climate crisis rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support across the British political spectrum. So why is it so hard to fund compared to military options? From @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social & @crbuildpeace.bsky.social
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
People Support Peacebuilding: New UK public opinion data
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support across the British political spectrum. So why is it so hard to fund compared to military options? Teresa Dumasy shar…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
September 22, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support across the British political spectrum. So why is it so hard to fund compared to military options? From @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social & @crbuildpeace.bsky.social
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
Useful PQ and answer on the 'national conversation campaign on defence and security' that we're supposedly having.
But we repeat - a conversation is not a campaign; it involves listening at least as much as telling. HMG needs to hear from people and understand their (in)security.
But we repeat - a conversation is not a campaign; it involves listening at least as much as telling. HMG needs to hear from people and understand their (in)security.
September 22, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Useful PQ and answer on the 'national conversation campaign on defence and security' that we're supposedly having.
But we repeat - a conversation is not a campaign; it involves listening at least as much as telling. HMG needs to hear from people and understand their (in)security.
But we repeat - a conversation is not a campaign; it involves listening at least as much as telling. HMG needs to hear from people and understand their (in)security.
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support. So why is it so often bypassed for military options?
Teresa Dumasy shares the findings of recent polling on public opinion in Britain about preventing conflict and building peace.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
Teresa Dumasy shares the findings of recent polling on public opinion in Britain about preventing conflict and building peace.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
People Support Peacebuilding: New UK public opinion data
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support across the British political spectrum. So why is it so hard to fund compared to military options? Teresa Dumasy shar…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
September 21, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Peacebuilding works, is far cheaper than war, and has the public’s support. So why is it so often bypassed for military options?
Teresa Dumasy shares the findings of recent polling on public opinion in Britain about preventing conflict and building peace.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
Teresa Dumasy shares the findings of recent polling on public opinion in Britain about preventing conflict and building peace.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/21/p...
New on the Blog:
Larry Attree argues that Andy Burnham should query received wisdom on national security, and sets out five big shifts that the PM could make to reset UK security strategy in a sustainable direction.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/18/c...
Larry Attree argues that Andy Burnham should query received wisdom on national security, and sets out five big shifts that the PM could make to reset UK security strategy in a sustainable direction.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/18/c...
Can Labour’s Reset Extend to National Security?
Three months into his premiership, Andy Burnham seems uncomfortable with growing domestic and international pressure to increase military spending. Larry Attree argues that the PM should query rece…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
September 18, 2026 at 9:46 AM
New on the Blog:
Larry Attree argues that Andy Burnham should query received wisdom on national security, and sets out five big shifts that the PM could make to reset UK security strategy in a sustainable direction.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/18/c...
Larry Attree argues that Andy Burnham should query received wisdom on national security, and sets out five big shifts that the PM could make to reset UK security strategy in a sustainable direction.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/09/18/c...
Our next webinar:
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
September 16, 2026 at 4:20 PM
Our next webinar:
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Increasingly, attempts to expose UK complicity in conflicts & to challenge security, foreign & climate policy have been suppressed by new laws & police powers.
Why is this happening & who or what is being sidelined in result?
Register: rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/webinar-seri...
Confused about whether conflict prevention is a worthwhile investment, or works at all? You should definitely read this brilliant new booklet from @crbuildpeace.bsky.social and partners. And share it with your friends, colleagues and MP!
We are delighted to be among its endorsing signatories.
We are delighted to be among its endorsing signatories.
Conflict is rising at an alarming rate, inflicting human suffering, fuelling humanitarian crises, displacement and exacerbating the climate crisis. Conflict costs the global economy and creates social division well beyond conflict zones.
Peace Works
Peace Works highlights the costs of conflict globally and to the UK, shows how conflict is changing, and gives examples of where and how peacebuilders have made decisive contributions to the prevention and resolution of violent conflict.
rc-services-assets.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com
September 14, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Confused about whether conflict prevention is a worthwhile investment, or works at all? You should definitely read this brilliant new booklet from @crbuildpeace.bsky.social and partners. And share it with your friends, colleagues and MP!
We are delighted to be among its endorsing signatories.
We are delighted to be among its endorsing signatories.
Reposted by Rethinking Security
This from a government that is still yet to publish in full the report its own security experts produced on the risks associated with ecosystem collapse. Lots of people have been trying to have a conversation on resilience, but the government has been reluctant to engage with it.
September 10, 2026 at 2:18 PM
This from a government that is still yet to publish in full the report its own security experts produced on the risks associated with ecosystem collapse. Lots of people have been trying to have a conversation on resilience, but the government has been reluctant to engage with it.
Tomorrow is the six-month anniversary of the current military campaign against Iran.
With the war stalemated, Trump humiliated, and US military forces degraded and demoralised, Paul Rogers explores this latest in a long series of US military debacles.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/27/o...
With the war stalemated, Trump humiliated, and US military forces degraded and demoralised, Paul Rogers explores this latest in a long series of US military debacles.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/27/o...
Operation Epic Hubris: Another failed US war
This week marks the six-month anniversary of the current US and Israeli military campaign against Iran. With the war stalemated, President Trump humiliated, and US military forces degraded and demo…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
August 27, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Tomorrow is the six-month anniversary of the current military campaign against Iran.
With the war stalemated, Trump humiliated, and US military forces degraded and demoralised, Paul Rogers explores this latest in a long series of US military debacles.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/27/o...
With the war stalemated, Trump humiliated, and US military forces degraded and demoralised, Paul Rogers explores this latest in a long series of US military debacles.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/27/o...
Inexplicably, US military spending reached a nadir of 3.1% of GDP in 1998-2000, half what it was in the 1980s.
Somehow they achieved all this despite the 'defence dividend' of the Cold War. Go figure.
Somehow they achieved all this despite the 'defence dividend' of the Cold War. Go figure.
Just posting this because, as of yesterday, the US national debt surpassed $40 trillion for the first time. The GOP: the party of fiscal responsibility. 🥴
August 20, 2026 at 4:13 PM
Inexplicably, US military spending reached a nadir of 3.1% of GDP in 1998-2000, half what it was in the 1980s.
Somehow they achieved all this despite the 'defence dividend' of the Cold War. Go figure.
Somehow they achieved all this despite the 'defence dividend' of the Cold War. Go figure.
Reposted by Rethinking Security
🚨NEW🚨: Ten unions call for Andy Burnham to oppose the war on Iran & stop British bases being used to launch US air strikes.
The unions argue that the “devastating, illegal war” is a catastrophe for the Middle East & that it directly undermines Burnham’s cost of living agenda.
The unions argue that the “devastating, illegal war” is a catastrophe for the Middle East & that it directly undermines Burnham’s cost of living agenda.
August 7, 2026 at 10:06 AM
🚨NEW🚨: Ten unions call for Andy Burnham to oppose the war on Iran & stop British bases being used to launch US air strikes.
The unions argue that the “devastating, illegal war” is a catastrophe for the Middle East & that it directly undermines Burnham’s cost of living agenda.
The unions argue that the “devastating, illegal war” is a catastrophe for the Middle East & that it directly undermines Burnham’s cost of living agenda.
The new PM suggests that the ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ can guarantee not only the UK’s national security but also its reindustrialisation.
Ian Davis finds this delusional on all counts, heightening risk of environmental as well as nuclear apocalypse.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/07/t...
Ian Davis finds this delusional on all counts, heightening risk of environmental as well as nuclear apocalypse.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/07/t...
The Three Myths that Drive the UK’s Nuclear Juggernaut
Within ten days of becoming prime minister, Andy Burnham had hitched his wagon to the idea that an ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ can guarantee not only the UK’s national security but also its rei…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
August 7, 2026 at 10:47 AM
The new PM suggests that the ‘independent nuclear deterrent’ can guarantee not only the UK’s national security but also its reindustrialisation.
Ian Davis finds this delusional on all counts, heightening risk of environmental as well as nuclear apocalypse.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/07/t...
Ian Davis finds this delusional on all counts, heightening risk of environmental as well as nuclear apocalypse.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/08/07/t...
Reposted by Rethinking Security
In this urgent new piece for @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social, Diana Francis and Andrew Rigby, two of the network’s founders, argue that militarised security is trapping us in a cycle of violence, destruction and ecological crisis.
The Absolute Insanity of Militarised Security
As the climate collapses and wars sweep the Middle East, Ukraine and beyond, Diana Francis and Andrew Rigby, two of the founders of Rethinking Security a decade ago, make the urgent case for far mo…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
August 3, 2026 at 10:12 AM
In this urgent new piece for @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social, Diana Francis and Andrew Rigby, two of the network’s founders, argue that militarised security is trapping us in a cycle of violence, destruction and ecological crisis.
Reposted by Rethinking Security
New resource from @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social, Security: Challenging Assumptions in a Changing World
ForcesWatch is pleased to have contributed to this project, which challenges dominant militarised approaches to security and explores people- and planet-centred alternatives.
Take a look👇
ForcesWatch is pleased to have contributed to this project, which challenges dominant militarised approaches to security and explores people- and planet-centred alternatives.
Take a look👇
New Resource: Talking Points on Security Claims and Responses
In 2025 the UK government produced its National Security Strategy, titled “Security for the British People in a Dangerous World”, setting the UK on a path to increased militarisation and seeking to…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
July 27, 2026 at 10:20 AM
New resource from @rethinkingsecurity.bsky.social, Security: Challenging Assumptions in a Changing World
ForcesWatch is pleased to have contributed to this project, which challenges dominant militarised approaches to security and explores people- and planet-centred alternatives.
Take a look👇
ForcesWatch is pleased to have contributed to this project, which challenges dominant militarised approaches to security and explores people- and planet-centred alternatives.
Take a look👇
Beginning an answer on the pending national conversation on defence and security, "In many ways, the conversation has already begun" and citing the former PM's words tends to suggest that, in many ways, the government still does not have any plan for a "Prime Minister-led national conversation".
July 27, 2026 at 8:13 AM
Beginning an answer on the pending national conversation on defence and security, "In many ways, the conversation has already begun" and citing the former PM's words tends to suggest that, in many ways, the government still does not have any plan for a "Prime Minister-led national conversation".
Reposted by Rethinking Security
New role with our friends at @dronewarsuk.bsky.social who are looking for a Communications and Research Officer (21 Hours per week) - remote. Info here >>> dronewars.net/jobs/
Jobs
Vacancy: Communications and Research Officer (21 Hours per week) Salary: £35,000 (FTE) Contract: 2 years fixed-term post (with a view to extend subject to funding). Home based, some travel for…
dronewars.net
July 22, 2026 at 1:13 PM
New role with our friends at @dronewarsuk.bsky.social who are looking for a Communications and Research Officer (21 Hours per week) - remote. Info here >>> dronewars.net/jobs/
Some militaries have strategies to reduce their carbon emissions – but the latest data shows these are being dwarfed by the effects of spiralling arms spending.
Stuart Parkinson of @responsiblesci.bsky.social investigates.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/07/17/m...
Stuart Parkinson of @responsiblesci.bsky.social investigates.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/07/17/m...
Military Climate Action Swamped by Spending Rises
Some militaries have strategies to reduce their carbon emissions – but the latest data shows these are being dwarfed by the effects of spiralling arms spending. Stuart Parkinson investigates.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
July 17, 2026 at 9:25 AM
Some militaries have strategies to reduce their carbon emissions – but the latest data shows these are being dwarfed by the effects of spiralling arms spending.
Stuart Parkinson of @responsiblesci.bsky.social investigates.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/07/17/m...
Stuart Parkinson of @responsiblesci.bsky.social investigates.
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk/2026/07/17/m...
New from RS:
'Security: Challenging assumptions in a changing world'
This booklet takes the claims of the UK's 2025 National Security Strategy and some broader claims about so-called national security and offers people- and planet-centred responses and alternatives.
shorturl.at/S0DGi
'Security: Challenging assumptions in a changing world'
This booklet takes the claims of the UK's 2025 National Security Strategy and some broader claims about so-called national security and offers people- and planet-centred responses and alternatives.
shorturl.at/S0DGi
New Resource: Talking Points on Security Claims and Responses
In 2025 the UK government produced its National Security Strategy, titled “Security for the British People in a Dangerous World”, setting the UK on a path to increased militarisation and seeking to…
rethinkingsecurity.org.uk
July 15, 2026 at 3:37 PM
New from RS:
'Security: Challenging assumptions in a changing world'
This booklet takes the claims of the UK's 2025 National Security Strategy and some broader claims about so-called national security and offers people- and planet-centred responses and alternatives.
shorturl.at/S0DGi
'Security: Challenging assumptions in a changing world'
This booklet takes the claims of the UK's 2025 National Security Strategy and some broader claims about so-called national security and offers people- and planet-centred responses and alternatives.
shorturl.at/S0DGi