News, Articles and Comment

BRE. The latest book review is now available. It considers a book examining the development of British navalism in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Royal Navy’s management of public relations in the Fisher era.

Ed. The Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA)  has been accrediting NHS providers with Veteran Aware certification since the 2014 Chavasse Report, with the goal of accrediting all NHS and independent sector providers in England by early 2024. The author provides an update on the VCHA’s progress to date. A 5 minute read.

Ed. The author expresses their concern with the condition of the ships in Portsmouth Harbour, and what image the RN conveys to the public, both domestic and foreign.

Ed. The author explores the efforts of the medical profession to respond to the needs of the veteran community, specifically highlighting the NHS accreditation programme organized by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). A 10 minute read.

Ed. When was the last time we spent enough on Defence and Security, the nation’s insurance policy? The problem, of course, is that democratic nations decide the answer to this question through elected politicians, not the military; many wise people are involved in reviewing and offering their best analysis of the likely future turn of events but this, as history regularly reminds us, is an inexact science. It all boils down to how effectively we communicate the power of the argument – articulating the threat and the likelihood versus the size of the purse and the amount of risk a government is prepared to accept in the level of military and security capability it wishes to invest in.

Ed. The author argues that the ‘art of Admiralty’ represents more than simply a debate over force structure or naval tactics, but instead embodies the cultural ethos of an island seapower state, and – crucially – the vehicle by which maritime thinking is cultivated and disseminated in government and to the broader population as a whole. A 15 minute read.

Ed. The author takes to task the need for public engagement by the RN, if a sceptical public is to be convinced of the vital importance of the maritime nature of the British Way of War. A 10 minute read.

Ed. Defence engagement is a vital component of any influence and deterrence strategy. But how well is defence engagement situated in the defence review and service doctrine literature? The author argues more can be done to explicitly define defence engagement as a core RN role. A 20 minute read.

Ed. Reflections on the current state of the UK’s strategic positioning amidst the background of an increasingly dangerous and unpredictable world. The author posits that the reality of medium power status means fundamentally reassessing the often ideologically driven assumptions that have brought the UK and the Royal Navy to this moment in history. A 40 minute read.