The U.S. Army & Marine Corps' new 'Commander's Handbook on the Law of Land Warfare' was published this month. The foreword states: 'We have learned that we deviate from these norms to our
detriment and risk undercutting...support for our operations.'
Today, the Remote Control Project becomes an Oxford Research Group programme. Under the new brand of the Remote Warfare Programme, the team will sustain and expand its work on analysing the implications of changes in military engagement.
We are delighted to announce the launch of "No Such Thing as a Quick Fix: The Aspiration-Capabilities Gap in British Remote Warfare"
Thank you to everyone who helped, we couldn't have done it without you!
@PatPorter76
@RoryCormac
@Tfawatts
@YvonniEfst
"... a Pentagon spokesman evaded questions about the ... reputation of forces being trained and equipped by the U.S. government, ... days after the U.S. ambassador to Cameroon stated that he believed military personnel were carrying out targeted killings"
A huge thank you to everyone involved in our conference
It was such a great two days with so many wonderful speakers and debates
There will be so much more to come - watch this space!
⚡️ “Conceptualising Remote Warfare: Past, Present and Future”
#HappyInternationalWomensDay
We would like to recognise all the amazing women in our field.
Who challenge the way we think about defence and security and drive the debate.
It is an honour to know, learn from and work with all of them.
#WomensDay
#WomensDay2019
While Trump’s tweets unnerve US allies, especially those that attack U.S. intelligence and law enforcement, the “Five Eyes” network of the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand continues to share intelligence almost as one nation
@thecipherbrief
Our latest report: "Lawful But Awful? Legal and political challenges of remote warfare and working with partners" is now out!
Thank you so much to everyone that helped us, we couldn't have written it without you
@Jack_Watling
@jennifermgibson
@Reprieve
We love
@EFADrones
's summary of our conference last week.
A really important lesson that came out of many of the presentations was that "use of armed drones never takes place in a vacuum"
#remotewarfare
Today we release the first of our "Defining Remote Warfare" series.
@R_Biegon
and
@Tfawatts
provide an overview of a central, but often overlooked, instrument of US remote warfare: security cooperation.
Dominic Grieve, who has finally been re-appointed as head of the ISC, calls for the committee (which currently oversees U.K. Intelligence agencies) to oversee its special forces
Our
@Abigail_Watson7
will be discussing the transparency and accountability of remote warfare at
@ChathamHouse
next week for the launch of
@GaskarthJamie
's new book "Secrets and Spies: UK Intelligence Accountability After Iraq and Snowden".
Sign up here:
Another big thank you to Sir Hew Strachan for his excellent keynote speech at last weeks conference. Exploring the relationship between strategy and democracy, arguing for an honest discussion with the British population which seeks to mobilise their interest not avoid it.
(1/10) Today the
@remote_warfare
programme launches its report,
#ForgingANewPath
: Prioritising the Protection of Civilians in the UK’s Response to Conflict. It outlines risks to civilians from
#RemoteWarfare
and how these can be addressed.
"Efforts to shine light on govt misconduct are not only a matter of moral reckoning, or of learning from past mistakes; they are necessary to puncture conspiratorial narratives that circulate in parts of the world that our government hardly understands"
Western intelligence has located 300 Russian mercenaries in Libya and believes Kremlin-linked military contractors are proliferating in other nations, according to a senior Whitehall source
We are very sad that
@ORGinfo
is to close, we worked very hard trying to stop it.
Our programme is also hugely grateful to
@jrct_uk
&
@Saferworld
for enabling our work to continue.
We will bring together experts from civil society, academia, military and government to ask:
What is remote warfare?
What can we learn from its past?
What can we expect in its future?
At
@UniKentPolitics
28th February to 1st March
Sign up here:
A report by
@SIGARHQ
revealed that the US unable or unwilling to stop funding units that engage in torture, summary execution, and other serious human rights violations, despite Congress’s efforts to restrict that aid
@Krhawkins5
@just_security
Have you listened to our latest episode yet? Our conversation with
#Somalia
security expert
@SeraGaid
,
@A_HERSI
&
@LewiBrooks
on the future of Somalia's security sector is out now.
Listen on podcast platforms or on youtube via the
@Saferworld
website ⬇️
Today we launch a new briefing by
@Walpole16
& Megan Karlshøj-Pedersen, exploring the strategic consequences of remote warfare for the
#ProtectionofCivilians
(POC) strategy. Important for
@DefenceHQ
&
@FCO
as
@GOVUK
undertakes review of its POC strategy.
"Since Dean Acheson’s famous assertion that the United Kingdom had “lost an empire and not yet found a role,” there has been no shortage of British politicians trying to articulate their country’s place in the world."
Interesting piece in
@WarOnTheRocks
“The huge increase in U.S. military missions in Africa over the past few years represents nothing less than a shadow war being waged on the continent.”
@nickturse
We are delighted to release the third in our "Defining Remote Warfare" series.
@andreas_krieg
discusses how the private military and security industry has filled voids that Western and non-Western states and their armed forces can no longer fill
“We health workers are not heroes. We should not become martyrs at work. We are professionals. We need personal protective equipment so that we can maintain health while saving lives. We need adequate stuffing and well-equipped health systems. We need funding for our sector.”
Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen is joined by
@Jockney45
and Save the Children's
@Amanda_Brydon
to discuss the importance of incorporating a strong focus on the protection of civilians into UK policy.
Our own
@knowles_em
and
@Abigail_Watson7
spent an excellent and incredibly informative day at the
@NATO
Centre of Excellence for Security Force Assistance - thank you for having us
...since 2001, the U.S. war on terror has resulted in the loss ... of almost half a million lives in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan alone...[and]... no less than $5.9 trillion ... caring for veterans of the war throughout their lifetimes
We will bring together experts from civil society, academia, military and government to ask:
What is remote warfare?
What can we learn from its past?
What can we expect in its future?
At
@UniKentPolitics
28th February to 1st March
Sign up here:
We have commissioned this excellent report by
@openbriefings
which examines the effectiveness of the use of remote warfare by the Nigerian government, its regional allies and Western states to counter the threat of
#BokoHaram
#counterterrorism
We are now accepting paper proposal for our Conceptualising Remote Warfare conference.
1st March 2019 at
@UniKent
w/
@Tfawatts
and
@R_Biegon
.
It will bring together a wide range of experts to understand different aspects of remote warfare.
Link here:
Another great piece in
@wavellroom
against short termism in the British Army - stating "this short termism has partly contributed to a situation where some have described the Armed Forces as no longer ‘fit for purpose’."
After some incredibly interesting discussions over the last two days, expertly led by
@Saferworld
, with experts from the Security Policy Alternative Network, we can't wait for tomorrow's discussion on strategies to transform responses to securitisation:
"Peacebuilding and conflict prevention sit at the heart of these ‘three D’s’, so enhancing the UK’s efforts to address conflict should be high up the Integrated Review’s agenda."
@LewiBrooks
@Saferworld
.
@Abigail_Watson7
and
@Walpole16
on the announcement that 250 UK troops will be deployed to support the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali:
"...for this to be effective it needs better strategic thinking about the UK’s offer to its partners in the Sahel..."
🎙️New Episode coming soon on
#Warpod
!
We speak to
@HNeumannMEP
, Member of
@europarl
about the evolving role of the
#EU
in supporting research and joint production of arms in Europe, especially after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
📅 Dropping Feb 28th. Stay tuned!
"‘Light Footprint’ Operations Keep US Troops in the Dark" our own Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen writes for
@DefenseOne
on the dangers of using local intelligence in Somalia
On the 6th and 7th of December 2017, the Centre for Conflict Studies at the Utrecht University held a two-day conference on The Intimacies of Remote Warfare, dealing with the changing nature of warfare. Read excellent write-up by
@EFADrones
As I am sure you now all know, the Remote Warfare Programme has moved to
@Saferworld
under the new name: the Security Change Policy programme – but you may not know the many ways you can stay up to date with its work and the team (Thread 1/7)
We will be hosting our first online public event on the 9th June (at 4pm UK time so no excuse for friends across the pond!) - do let
@Abigail_Watson7
know if you would like to attend.
We are now accepting paper proposal for our Conceptualising Remote Warfare conference.
1st March 2019 at
@UniKent
w/
@Tfawatts
and
@R_Biegon
.
It will bring together a wide range of experts to understand different aspects of remote warfare.
Link here:
Our report "Remote Warfare: Lessons Learned from Contemporary Campaigns" by
@knowles_em
and
@Abigail_Watson7
was referenced in the UN Security Council Report of the Secretary General's "Protection of civilians in armed conflict"
Our own
@Abigail_Watson7
argues for a value-based approach to address threats from Russia, China, and Iran - definitely an interesting day for us to release given the discussion over
#Huawei
What is the UK's greatest security challenge?
Don't forget we have our monthly 'Policy & Pints' meet-up tonight. Come to discuss this question & more. See
Are you also keen to better understand the origin and implications of remote warfare? Join us at the Conceptualising Remote Warfare Conference at the University of Kent in February!
You can reserve your tickets here:
We are delighted to release the third in our "Defining Remote Warfare" series.
@andreas_krieg
discusses how the private military and security industry has filled voids that Western and non-Western states and their armed forces can no longer fill
Excellent talk by
@TomTugendhat
on Defending the Rules at
@RUSI_org
Arguing that a rules-based approach to foreign policy not only plays to the UK’s reputation for honesty and fairness, but is in the country’s best interest at a time global instability
Our own
@Abigail_Watson7
&
@Walpole16
will present at the
@NAM_London
tomorrow at their "Propaganda: Persuasion, Information, Deception" conference
We'll explore whether failing to debate UK operations forfeits our ability to counter narratives
We're going to continue this brilliant trend.
Get in touch if you'd like a virtual guest lecture on the effectiveness or challenges of working through local and regional partner forces in places like the Sahel, Horn of Africa, or Middle East. We'd be happy to discuss options!
Well this is a brilliant idea (thanks
@alexstamos
).
I, too, am available to guest lecture virtually.
- Ethics of remote warfare (drones)
- Just war theory
- Ethics of autonomous weapons (AI-enabled weapons)
Our Fellow
@knowles_em
finally had a piece she co-wrote on human rights training with foreign militaries published in
@WarOnTheRocks
- here are some highlights 1/8
"Understanding the prevalence of proxy war is not hard. Proxies enable intervention on the cheap. They cost a fraction of the expense of deploying a state’s own forces and the proxy does the dying...proxy war is also more politically palatable."
U.S. counter-terrorism missions will emphasise on a program designed to help “surrogate forces,” rather than traditional allied units
Seems like there are some pretty fatal assumptions about how much local forces will just "do our bidding" in here
The UK said in its Biological Security Strategy that since Ebola "the UK has substantially increased its international support and … ODA funding for prevention and response to global health threats.” How is this investment/ support currently being used?
Liam Walpole is joined by two experts from the DIIS, Peter Albrecht and Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, to examine the importance of effective protection of civilians, looking at case studies from the Sahel and West Africa.
We are now accepting paper proposal for our Conceptualising Remote Warfare conference.
1st March 2019 at
@UniKent
w/
@Tfawatts
and
@R_Biegon
.
It will bring together a wide range of experts to understand different aspects of remote warfare.
Link here:
Following 18 months of research, we are putting together a fantastic panel to discuss the political, legal, and military implications of remote warfare to celebrate the launch of our latest series
Does peace enforcement pose a threat or challenge to UN peacekeeping? We spoke to David Haeri of
@UNPeacekeeping
on our latest episode of Warpod along with US Congresswoman
@RepSaraJacobs
and the University of Ghana's
@LindaDarkwa
.
Listen here:
Call for papers: We are arranging a workshop with
@Tfawatts
,
@delinagoxho
and
@R_Biegon
in July at the 2020
@europeanisa
conference! You can apply to attend the workshop, which will examine European approaches to Remote Warfare, here:
Expert on jihadi-insurgency groups
@IbnSiqilli
talks about the recent activity of Al-Shabaab and the effectiveness of the counter measures against the group
Call for papers: EWIS 2020 - A Transatlantic Divide? Strangeness and Familiarity in European Approaches to Remote Warfare
Event date/place: 1-4 July, 2020. Brussels.
Deadline for abstract submission: 13th January, 2020.
Link:
Reckoning with 9/11: 20 years on from the attacks on 11 September 2001, this 8-part special series of
@Saferworld
's
#WarPod
reflects on the global impact of the attacks. We will hear about the effects on people at home and around the world:
Our new report, ‘Fusion Doctrine in Five Steps: Lessons from remote warfare in Africa’, is out now!
In this report we set out how the
@GOVUK
’s ambition to deliver a whole-of-government approach through Fusion Doctrine can be achieved in
#5StepsToFusion
(Thread 1/7)
Excellent talk by
@TomTugendhat
on Defending the Rules at
@RUSI_org
Arguing that a rules-based approach to foreign policy not only plays to the UK’s reputation for honesty and fairness, but is in the country’s best interest at a time global instability
We have commissioned this excellent report by
@openbriefings
which examines the effectiveness of the use of remote warfare by the Nigerian government, its regional allies and Western states to counter the threat of
#BokoHaram
#counterterrorism
Thank you to
@Fabian_IPG
for hosting us in an excellent panel discussion last night on the future of defence, highlighting the need to focus on skills and develop a coherent and whole of government strategy for engaging abroad
@iiyonite
@Peymasad
Former Conservative Chancellor Ken Clarke says any military action against the Syrian government should require Parliamentary approval.
He said the government should not "wave aside accountability to Parliament" because it is "inconvenient".