Make security research a partnership

To work together on defence, government and academia both need to change, says Simon Harwood

The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published on 16 March marks a critical shift in the UK government’s thinking about national security. Unlike its predecessors over the past couple of decades, it looks beyond weaponry and troop numbers to consider the ways in which a society is connected and interdependent—everything from bombs to biodiversity.

Military might and diplomacy are of little value if a society can be brought to its knees by climate change, community breakdown, cybercrime or a pandemic. Now, explicitly, the National Security Risk Assessment process and National Risk Register will take into account the essential interdependence of risks.