Security
What is security? What are the threats to UK security? How should they be addressed? What level of resources, including financial, should be devoted to them?
Security is not the same as military power
As many of the news items on the left show, security is often discussed as though it is synonymous with military strength. It is not. Many imminent, major threats such as climate change, energy security and economic marginalisation are not military. Equally, a military mindset can decrease security by prioritising military solutions to problems, increasing the likelihood of armed conflict. Such an approach is also likely to endorse the promotion of arms exports. These exacerbate human rights abuse, tension and conflict, with obvious implications for international and UK security.
To really address security, consideration of the deeper roots underlying the threats to it, and of what contributes to and exacerbates them is needed. It should examine whether a change to the UK's role in the world would have an impact on the threats.
Conservative Government
The Conservative government published its combined National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review on 23 November 2015. Prime Minister David Cameron introduced it in a Commons debate on that day.
Coalition Government
The October 2010 National Security Strategy (NSS) did acknowledge non-military threats to security. It cited international terrorism, cyber attacks, major accidents or natural hazards (for example, flooding or a flu epidemic) and an international military crisis drawing in the UK as the priority threats. Only for the last-mentioned might military force be required. A conventional military attack on the UK itself was deemed a third tier threat; many considered it unimaginable.
As part of the same process, the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) was also published in October 2010. This mentioned the priority threats identified by the NSS, but went on to focus spending on traditional military and intelligence agency type security.
The articles and reports linked from this page contribute to the debate on this issue, though CAAT does not necessarily endorse the views contained in them.