Earlier this week, Louis Theraux released his latest documentary, The Settlers. While the conflict in Palestine has not left public scrutiny, it had begun to retreat in the face of headlines about Donald Trump, European defence, and local council elections. Nonetheless, the public remains passionate about the issue. In a recent Question Time episode, one …
Read more “Settlement and Heartbreak: The British Response to Gaza”
Over the last week, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy and witness some great conversations with some very interesting people. All of them have, in some way, related security back to young people and made defence relevant to a generation that has largely been the witness to a failing politics. Despite the worrying cause …
Read more “Ukraine, Palestine, and NATO: Three Conversations on Youth and Security”
‘If you want peace, prepare for war’ is a quote often shared from the Roman writer Vegetius. Our guests today use their background working with General Petraeus, the Italian Ministry of Defence, NATO’s Defense College, private military companies, and the US’ National Defense University to debate how the West might prepare for war if it …
Read more “Season 2, Podcast #3: Dr Andrea Gilli x Dr Sean McFate”
When setting out a new path, or the next step in the current path, leaders will often make reference to history. “[insert country] has always…” is the line so often parroted. To take one example, Putin’s speech with Tucker Carlson made frequent and incessant references to Russia’s supposed history to justify his invasion of Ukraine. …
General Barrow once said that “War is a man’s work… you have to protect the manliness of war”. But when men are given the exclusive role of protecting their country, there is an implication that they also have authority and responsibility over the protected. In today’s episode, we dive into the field of Feminist Security …
Author’s Note: Welcome back to the BIGA Podcast! This season, we’re focusing on Security, Strategy, and Defence to explore the threats, challenges, and opportunities facing the UK and what it can do to prepare. Let us know what themes you would like us to explore in future seasons! The news is rife with bombastic personalities …
Read more “Season 2, Podcast #1 – Professor Phillips O’Brien”
With the release of the defence season of the podcast, this week’s commentary piece is going to be a review of Professor O’Brien’s latest book The Strategists: How War Made Them and How They Made War. The book focuses on the five key leaders during World War II: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler. The …
I’m excited to announce that next week, season two of the BIGA podcast will begin and the theme for the season will be: Security, Strategy, and Defence. With Peter Jones helping to round out our season on diplomacy, it seems a fitting leap to discuss all things security. I’ve written previously about strategy, in particular …
Author’s Note: This piece is looking at the recent Netflix show Adolescence as a starting point for conversation about gender in the UK. As such, there will be spoilers about the show and I would recommend you watch it before reading this piece. ‘overall, male emotional repression is good, actually’. This was one of the …
Read more “Bad Apples: Adolescence, masculinity, and expression in the UK”
Last week, we finished the first series on our podcast. It was a pleasure to get the opportunity to speak to people across the diplomatic spectrum – from former ambassadors with decades of experience to a new generation cutting their teeth on the issues of the day to those who attempt to bridge international relations …