Rethinking Security: a discussion paper

A group of UK peacebuilding professionals invite you to participate in a new civic conversation about alternatives to the current approach to national security. Here they outline their concerns about the existing model, and offer a different vision for the future, welcoming input from anyone who wishes to engage in this debate.

How do we best build long-term security for people in the UK and worldwide?

• Across the world, insecurity is growing, affecting everyone, especially the world’s poorest but also people in rich countries like the UK.
• Responses to insecurity, centred on offensive military power and restrictions on civil liberties, are proving ineffective and generating greater insecurity.
• The greatest threats to our security – climate change, inequality, scarcity, militarism, and violent conflict – are not being addressed.
• Security is often described as a national duty, but is better seen as a common right. It cannot be gained in one place at the expense of another, nor is it built on dominance, but on the health of our societies. Principles such as these could help to shape better responses to insecurity now, including immediate risks, while also helping to develop the conditions of lasting security over the long-term.
• But the conversation about ‘security’ is too narrow: it is dominated by a small and exclusive group, supported by business interests that benefit from the status quo. Building a safer world needs a new approach – and it needs all of us.

Download the report

Go the the Rethinking Security website