Defence policy
All Standard Notes
33 Documents
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 14.01.2013 | Update on the Trident Successor Programme |
| The programme to replace the UK's nuclear deterrent from 2028 onwards continues apace and in December 2012 the Government published its first update report to Parliament. | |
| 04.01.2013 | The Armed Forces Covenant |
| The Armed Forces Covenant is a statement of the moral obligation which exists between the nation, the Government and the Armed Forces. It was published in May 2011 and its core principles were enshrined in law, for the first time, in the Armed Forces Act 2011. It applies to all three services. The Government published the first annual report in December 2012. | |
| 27.07.2012 | Medal Campaigns |
| Examines the process by which campaign medals are instituted, the rules governing the acceptance and wearing of foreign medals, and some of the medal campaigns that are currently underway. Summarises the findings of the interim Military Medals Review. | |
| 26.07.2012 | Army 2020 |
| The Ministry of Defence announced a major re-structuring of the British Army in July 2012. This note looks at what the restructure involves and which regiments and battalions it affects. | |
| 09.07.2012 | Afghanistan: The Timetable for Security Transition |
| NATO assumed command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in August 2003. At its summit in Chicago in May 2012, NATO confirmed ISAF's mission will end on 31 December 2014. It also mapped out the transition of security for Afghanistan from ISAF to Afghan National Security Forces. Specifically, it set the goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for security nation-wide by mid-2013. | |
| 04.07.2012 | The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent: Suggested Reading |
| This note sets out a list of suggested reading material which provides background on the decision to replace the nuclear deterrent, the international legal context for such a decision, the current debate on financial and political viability of the successor programme, and the potential alternatives to a submarine-based deterrent. | |
| 15.06.2012 | In Brief: Armed Forces Day 2012 |
| Armed Forces Day will be held on 30 June 2012. | |
| 11.05.2012 | NATO: The Chicago Summit |
| The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) holds its Heads of State and Government summit in Chicago on 20-21 May 2012. The main themes of the summit are Afghanistan, capabilities and partnerships. | |
| 29.03.2012 | In brief: Afghanistan - timetable to 2014 |
| This note provides a brief outline of the timetable for withdrawal of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014. | |
| 28.02.2012 | Preventing and prosecuting piracy at sea: legal issues |
| The resurgence in piracy at sea, particularly hijackings off the coast of Somalia, has prompted a range of efforts to tackle it. These throw up a series of legal issues including the use of force by governments and private armed security guards, and transferring of suspects for trial or imprisonment. Library Standard Notes covering related issues include: Piracy at sea: overview and policy responses; Somalia: recent political, security and humanitarian developments; and Does Somali piracy have any 'developmental effects'?. | |
| 08.02.2012 | The Defence of the Falkland Islands |
| This note looks at the UK defence presence in the Falkland Islands and reviews the current debate about whether the Islands are adequately defended in the event of future aggression. | |
| 14.11.2011 | Defence Basing Review |
| Since October 2010 the MOD has been conducting a basing review to examine all of the issues that arose out of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The conclusions of that review were announced in the House on 18 July 2011. In November 2011 the MOD announced the first tranche of moves envisaged under the rebasing programme. | |
| 24.10.2011 | Military Operations in Libya |
| Military action to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1973 in Libya | |
| 18.07.2011 | Defence Reform |
| The Independent Report into the Structure and Management of the MOD was published by the Defence Reform Unit on 27 June 2011. That report makes 53 recommendations on the reorganisation of the MOD. | |
| 23.06.2011 | Cyber Security - A new national programme |
| It is widely acknowledged that cyber attacks will increasingly be a key aspect of future warfare and organised crime. This note explains the increasing threat to national security posed by the new "front" of the cyber realm of networked, digital activities (often internet-based) and sets out the Government's response. | |
| 20.06.2011 | Trident after the Strategic Defence and Security Review |
| This note briefly examines the main conclusions of the SDSR with respect to the Trident successor programme, including changes to the UK's nuclear posture, timeframe and associated cost savings. It also briefly looks at the new UK-French nuclear treaty which, for the first time, establishes co-operation measures between the two nuclear weapon states; and developments in the Trident successor programme since October 2010, including approval of Initial Gate in May 2011. | |
| 04.04.2011 | No-Fly Zone Over Libya: Suggested Reading |
| UN Security Council Resolution 1973 adopted on 17 March 2011, established, among other things, a no-fly zone over Libya. This note provides a list of suggested reading material on the arguments for and against the establishment of a no fly zone over Libya and its likelihood of success. | |
| 02.12.2010 | NATO summit 2010 |
| 08.11.2010 | Franco-British Defence Co-operation |
| The UK and France agreed a series of measures intended to enhance defence co-operation between both country's armed forces, including the signing of two new defence treaties, at the latest bilateral summit on 2 November 2010. The treaties have been labelled by a number of analysts as 'historic', in particular for the implications of co-operation in the nuclear sphere. This note provides a brief summary of historical UK-French defence co-operation, the main elements of the two new defence co-operation treaties and some initial reactions to the proposals that have been set out. | |
| 03.11.2010 | Strategic Defence and Security Review: Defence Policy and the Armed Forces |
| 02.11.2010 | The Strategic Defence and Security Review: The 'foreign policy baseline' and the National Security Strategy |
| 20.10.2010 | In Brief: Strategic Defence and Security Review - Headline Recommendations for the Armed Forces |
| Five months after entering office the Coalition Government published its Strategic Defence and Security Review on 19 October 2010. The following note is a guide to the principal recommendations and conclusions of that review which relate to the Armed forces specifically. It will be followed by a more detailed paper on the wider recommendations of the SDSR, and their implications, in the near future. | |
| 19.10.2010 | A Brief Guide to Previous British Defence Reviews |
| This note is a short guide to the main recommendations of the defence reviews that have taken place since the end of the Second World War, and whether those recommendations subsequently lived up to events. | |
| 13.10.2010 | Strategic Defence and Security Review |
| That Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) was announced shortly after the new Coalition Government took office in May 2010. As the SDSR is ongoing, it is difficult to conclude with any certainty what its final recommendations may be. Therefore, this note seeks to 'set the scene' by providing an outline of what proposals have been highlighted by the new Government thus far and a list of suggested reading material for relevant commentary. | |
| 21.09.2010 | Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent: A Progress Report |
| The intention of this note is to provide a brief update on the status of the programme to replace the UK's strategic nuclear deterrent beyond 2020, the decisions that have yet to be taken and the wider debate on the feasibility of replacing the UK's nuclear deterrent in the current economic and political climate. | |
| 19.08.2010 | Afghanistan: Towards a Handover of Security Responsibility? |
| 14.07.2010 | Military Campaign in Afghanistan |
| 22.03.2010 | Political and security arrangements in the Pakistan border areas with Afghanistan |
| This note outlines the current political and security arrangements in the ethnic Pashtun-dominated areas on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan known as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). | |
| 19.03.2010 | The AfPak policy: Origins and evolution |
| Following his inauguration as President in January 2009, Barack Obama initiated an interagency review of US policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It rapidly became clear that the new Administration was thinking in terms of a more integrated, regional policy, which soon became known by the shorthand term, 'AfPak'. This note, which is mainly descriptive in nature, briefly surveys the origins and subsequent evolution of the AfPak policy, providing links to key official reports and documents. It does not offer a comprehensive analysis of the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan. | |
| 11.02.2010 | Strategic Defence Review Green Paper: Preliminary Observations |
| The Government published its defence Green Paper on 3 February 2010. The observations and recommendations in that paper will now inform the work of a Strategic Defence Review which the Government has committed to undertaking shortly after the General Election. The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats have also stated that they will hold a defence review should they take office. This note sets out some of the background to the Green Paper, its main conclusions and some initial reactions within Parliament, the media and the wider defence community. This briefing will eventually form part of a larger Library Research Paper on the forthcoming Strategic Defence Review. | |
| 24.09.2009 | Iran: Conventional Military Capabilities |
| This note examines the conventional military capabilities that Iran possesses, on the basis of publicly available information. It focuses specifically on Iran's ballistic missile programme which has received increasing attention in light of Iran's perceived nuclear ambitions and the recent changes to the US' missile defence proposals in Europe. It is not intended as a comprehensive assessment but a brief introduction to Iran's military capabilities. It also does not examine Iran's nuclear programme which is outlined in Library Standard Note SN/IA/4262, Iran's Nuclear Programme: An Overview. | |
| 09.02.2009 | The International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan |
| This note is intended to be a brief guide to the mandate upon which those forces are deployed; the command and control of forces in the country and the integration of ISAF with the US-led Operation Enduring freedom; current troop contributions and future force rotation plans and commitments. It does not examine either wider political and economic developments in Afghanistan or the ccounter narcotics strategy. | |
| 13.01.2009 | Arms Exports to Israel |
| This note briefly examines the UK's arms export policy with respect to Israel, the value of the military goods that the UK has exported over the last ten years and provides a comparison to the United States which accounts for 94% of all arms exports to Israel, and the other EU Member States. |
All Research Papers
16 Documents
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 14.12.2011 | Military balance in Southeast Asia |
| This paper examines the military balance of power in Southeast Asia and specifically at the military capabilities and priorities of six regional actors: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore. | |
| 21.01.2011 | UK Defence and Security Policy: A New Approach? |
| Both the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review were published in October 2010, five months after the Government took office. This paper examines the main priorities and recommendations set out in each of those documents | |
| 15.06.2010 | Progress towards nuclear disarmament? |
| In April 2009 President Obama set out his vision for a world without nuclear weapons, and in doing so laid the groundwork for renewed international efforts to strengthen and advance the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Over the past year that momentum has translated into the agreement of a successor to the US-Russia START treaty, global commitments to secure highly vulnerable nuclear materials within four years and the establishment, at the May 2010 Review Conference, of an action plan in support of the three main pillars of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This paper examines the prospects for achieving that vision of 'global zero'. | |
| 11.02.2010 | Cluster Munitions (Prohibitions) Bill (HL) |
| The main purpose of the Bill is to create criminal offences in order to enforce the prohibitions set out in Article 1 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This bans the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions on the grounds that they cause unacceptable harm to civilians, and establishes measures to minimise the harm to civilians in the aftermath of conflicts. Ninety-four states, including the UK, signed, and four states ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo on 3 December 2008. Once the Bill has passed into law, the UK will then move to ratify the Convention, which has been ratified by 30 states, and will come into force on 1 August 2010. The Government has announced that it intends to destroy all cluster munition stockpiles by the end of 2013. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have given their full support to the Bill. | |
| 24.04.2009 | Russia's Military Posture |
| This paper examines Russia's current military posture. It does not attempt to be a comprehensive examination of every aspect of Russian military policy but is intended as an introduction to some of the more pertinent aspects, including Russia's military capabilities, its ability to defend its increasingly diverse strategic interests and the credibility of Russia's modernisation and rearmament programme which was announced toward the end of 2008. | |
| 27.11.2008 | Parliamentary Approval for Deploying the Armed Forces: An introduction to the issues. |
| Parliamentary Approval for Deploying the Armed Forces: An introduction to the issues. This paper examines the debate on the Royal prerogative and parliamentary approval for the deployment of the Armed Forces. | |
| 27.06.2008 | British defence policy since 1997 |
| British defence policy since 1997. HC Research Paper 08/57. | |
| 27.06.2008 | British defence policy since 1997: background issues |
| British defence policy since 1997: background issues. HC Research Paper 08/58. | |
| 17.06.2008 | Reinventing humanitarian intervention: Two cheers for the Responsibility to Protect? |
| Reinventing humanitarian intervention: Two cheers for the Responsibility to Protect? House of Commons Library Research Paper 08/55. | |
| 12.02.2008 | China's Military Posture |
| 03.11.2006 | The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent |
| The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent. House of Commons Library Research Paper 06/53. | |
| 17.09.2004 | Defence White Paper |
| The Defence White Paper. House of Commons Library Research Paper 04/71. | |
| 17.09.2004 | Defence White Paper:future capabilities |
| The Defence White Paper: future capabilities. House of Commons Library Research Paper 04/72. | |
| 26.07.2004 | NATO:The Istanbul Summit |
| NATO: The Istanbul Summit. House of Commons Library Research Paper 04/60. | |
| 20.09.2002 | Iraq: the debate on policy options |
| Iraq: the debate on policy options. House of Commons Library Research Paper 02/53. | |
| 15.10.1998 | The Strategic Defence Review White Paper |
| The strategic defence review White Paper. House of Commons Library Research Paper 98/91. |
