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252. Smart muddling through: rethinking UK national strategy beyond Afghanistan
- Author:
- Paul Cornish and Andrew Doorman
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- When the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition was formed in May 2010 it was confronted with a Ministry of Defence (MoD) in crisis, with armed forces committed to intensive combat operations in Afghanistan and with an unenviable financial situation. Yet within five months the coalition government had published a new National Security Strategy (NSS—the third in three years), a new Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) and a spending review. Among the United Kingdom's allies, France and Australia had prepared their defence white papers of 2008 and 2009 respectively in the context of a more benign global economic environment, while the United States used its national security policy of 2010 to provide a strategic overview without setting out in much detail what it would require of the relevant departments. The UK was effectively, therefore, the first western state to undertake a complete defence and security review in the 'age of austerity'. To add to the challenge, the coalition recognized that there were also problems within its own machinery of government, and came up with some novel solutions. In a radical step, it decided that national security would henceforth be overseen by a new National Security Council (NSC) chaired by the Prime Minister. A National Security Advisor—a new appointment in UK government—would lead Cabinet Office support to the NSC and the review process. The novelty of these arrangements raised questions about whether a more established system might be required to manage such a major review of UK national security. Nevertheless, the strategy review proceeded apace.
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan, United States, United Kingdom, and Australia
253. The limited capacity of management to rescue UK defence policy: a review and a word of caution
- Author:
- Trevor Taylor
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- In terms of press coverage and political debate, the story of British defence since the end of the Cold War has been marked by three themes: policy (direction and review), management (shortcomings and initiatives), and military operations, although academic studies and courses tend to neglect the management domain. In principle, these three elements should be closely linked, with policy defining the evolving state of the world and constraining the direction of the country's military response, management delivering the leadership, organization and coordination to build the forces to enable the policy to be implemented, and military operations being undertaken in line with the policy guidance and management preparations made. In practice, however, there have been significant disjunctions between the operations mounted and the policy and management. Military operations launched since 1990 have all been something of a surprise, most of them requiring significant extra funding to be obtained through Urgent Operational Requirements (UORs) to enhance and modify British capabilities before the operations could begin. The concept of Force Elements at Readiness (FE@R), the key output of the mainstream defence budget, came to be recognized in the MoD as of only limited utility unless consideration of the specific attributes of a particular adversary, the physical environment of the envisaged operation and the contribution of allies were also included in the equation.
- Topic:
- Cold War
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
254. British civil–military relations and the problem of risk
- Author:
- Timothy Edmunds
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- The theme of risk pervades the western security discourse at the beginning of the 2010s. The United Kingdom's 2010 National Security Strategy (NSS) employs the term 'risk' no fewer than 545 times, while its 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) mentions the word 96 times. The United States' 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) uses the words 'risk' or 'risks' 95 times over the course of its analysis. Risk is an explicit theme in the Australian Defence White Paper of 2009, Germany's Defence Policy Guidelines of 2011, The French White Paper on Defence and National Security of 2008 and the Spanish Security Strategy of 2011. It is also implicit in almost all other western security documentation since 2001 in one way or another.
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia
255. British judicial engagement and the juridification of the armed forces
- Author:
- Anthony Forster
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Institution:
- Chatham House
- Abstract:
- The term 'juridification' was first used by Gerry Rubin over a decade ago to describe ways in which the British court-martial system was being altered by civil judgments that civilianized the military legal system and reduced the autonomy of the armed forces. Since then, little scholarly attention has been focused on legal developments and their impact on traditional forms of governance of the British armed forces—especially its hierarchical and tradition-based approach to the conduct of its business. More recently, Christopher Dandeker has explored the 'right' of, versus the 'need' for, the British armed forces to be different from the society they serve, and I have explored the impact of wars since 1997 on the three branches of the British state and on the relationship of the state to its citizens. The focus in the present article is on the consequences of changes to the legal framework for the British armed forces. This is of interest not just because the armed forces have been so regularly deployed in combat over the last decade and a half, but also because as an organization the British military has been based on strong hierarchies, self-referential judgments, strong internal (but poor external) transparency and, above all, certainty of process and basic presuppositions that underpin all its activities.
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom
256. Lost in Translation: The Challenge of Exporting Models of Civil-Military Relations
- Author:
- Laura Cleary
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- Once viewed as an interesting but minor subset of the broader disciplines of international relations and security studies, the promotion of civil-military relations (CMR), under the new and broader banners of security sector reform (SSR) and stabilization, has become a critical component of foreign, defense, and development policies of former colonial powers in the 21stcentury.1Indeed, it would be fair to say that the promotion of CMR/SSR has become a booming industry. The United States, United Kingdom (UK), Germany, and France have sanctioned the development of this industry through the award of contracts to preferred service providers. There appears, however, to be little consistency, coordination, monitoring, or regulation in the selection of service providers or in the way in which the service is provided.
- Topic:
- Reform
- Political Geography:
- United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany
257. After 2015: The Next Security Era for Britain
- Author:
- John Mackinlay
- Publication Date:
- 03-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- PRISM
- Institution:
- Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), National Defense University
- Abstract:
- The great international intervention in Afghanistan is due to run down to a token presence by 2014. Foreign troops are returning home already, and their continued reduction will change the nature of the operation there. Closer to Europe, the Arab Spring has displaced more than a million people along the north coast of Africa. The efforts of those refugees to migrate toward Europe could begin to unsettle the region. Meanwhile, the European economy seems to be heading for long-term decline, and last summer's rioting in the United Kingdom (UK) has alarmed politicians and damaged British urban areas. Looking ahead, this article argues that 2015 may mark the start of a rather different security era, one in which the British government may have to determine whether the safety of its own population takes priority over supporting U.S. operations overseas.
- Political Geography:
- Britain, Afghanistan, Africa, United Kingdom, Europe, and Arabia
258. Al-Skeini and Al-Jedda in Strasbourg
- Author:
- Marko Milanovic
- Publication Date:
- 02-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Abstract:
- The article analyses the European Court of Human Rights' recent judgments in Al-Skeini v. United Kingdom and Al-Jedda v. United Kingdom. The former is set to become the leading Strasbourg authority on the extraterritorial application of the ECHR; the latter presents significant developments with regard to issues such as the dual attribution of conduct to states and to international organizations, norm conflict, the relationship between the ECHR and general international law, and the ability or inability of UN Security Council decisions to displace human rights treaties by virtue of Article 103 of the UN Charter. The article critically examines the reasoning behind the two judgments, as well as their broad policy implications regarding ECHR member state action abroad and their implementation of various Security Council measures.
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom and Europe
259. Only a Crisis Will Bring Money Reform
- Author:
- George Melloan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2012
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Cato Journal
- Institution:
- The Cato Institute
- Abstract:
- “Well, if I had a nickel, I know what I would do. I'd spend it all on candy and give it all to you. . . . Cause that's how much I love you baby.” That wasn't a very generous proposition even in 1946, when country singer Eddy Arnold wrote those words. But at least a nickel would buy a good-sized Baby Ruth or Clark bar. Today? A jelly bean, perhaps?
- Political Geography:
- United States and United Kingdom
260. The Significance of Burma/Myanmar's By-Elections
- Author:
- David I. Steinberg
- Publication Date:
- 04-2012
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- East-West Center
- Abstract:
- The drumbeat against the process and the potential results of the Burma/Myanmar by-elections of April 1, 2012 for 45 seats (37, or 11 percent in the Lower House of the bicameral legislature; 6, or 4 percent in the Upper House, and 2 in regional bodies) started before the polling began and the votes were counted. Human Rights Watch said they were a step forward, but not real reform. Campaign Burma UK wrote that it was impossible for them to be free and fair. And Aung San Suu Kyi, running for a seat, said they would be neither free nor fair. The plan to undercut their significance before they took place was evident.
- Topic:
- Civil Society, Democratization, Human Rights, and Political Activism
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar