Comment, analysis, news

Rogue heroes?

21/04/2023
A counter-history of the SAS

Mutual militarisation: the budget and NATO spending

13/04/2023
Mutual militarisation. Chancellor holding his red case. Increased defence spending promises in the 2023 Spring Budget. Following the £11bn commitment to military spending in the Spring Budget, we asked Campaign Against Arms Trade's Sam Perlo-Freeman for his take on the mutual militarisation fuelled by Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Unpicking British Army recruitment adverts

09/03/2023
Screenshot of British Army recruitment advert The Flood. The latest British Army recruitment advert received widespread critique for innaccurate depictions of the military's role in domestic floods. We took a look at the advert and its place in the recruitment landscape.

The MPs and the arms company reps

11/01/2023
Screenshot of the seating arrangement for the 2021 Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme graduation dinner. It shows six tables around which are seats MPs, ministers, military top brass and representatives from some of the worlds largest arms companies. In our second analysis of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme we uncover how MPs dined with generals and arms company representatives.

From Militant to Military Labour

14/09/2022
With the UK in the midst of wide spread industrial action we took a look at the historic use of the armed forces to break strikes and quell workers rights.

Overselling the Military

05/09/2022
The British Army has a new recruitment campaign. We took a critical look at its message and how the latest iteration fits within the constant need to sell the military.

Pioneering a dystopian future

22/07/2022
Many of the world's largest arms companies are involved in providing education and careers activities for young visitors at the UK's largest airshows. The same companies that are supplying weapons and military jets to Saudi Arabia for their war in Yemen.

The Military-Entertainment Complex

05/07/2022
With the new Top Gun movie hitting British cinemas at the end of last month, our chief blog writer Joe Glenton reflects on the war films of his childhood and the recruitment potential of military sponsored entertainment.

The Qatari Connection

16/06/2022
The military relationship between Qatar and the UK has a number of unique and interesting features. We took a look at how the two countries have become increasingly intertwined on matters of war, security and trade.

Thinking through ‘Lethal Aid’

25/04/2022
With Britain, the U.S and other NATO countries sending weapons to Ukraine following Russia's brutal invasion we took a step back to analyse the implications of lethal aid.