In a special series of podcasts, ORG talks with people involved in the development and evolution of ORG in its early days.

In this episode, ORG interviews Dr. Scilla Ellworthy, who founded ORG in 1982 and was its Executive Director until 2003. After ORG she founded Peace Direct and undertook extensive research into peace and security, her most recent book is the Business Plan for Peace: Building a World Without War. We will discuss the founding of ORG, how its ideals have defined Scilla’s subsequent work, and her most recent book.

Music by Bensound

About the discussants

Scilla Elworthy is Director of A Business Plan for Peace and the Founder of Oxford Research Group. 

Alasdair McKay is Senior Editor at Oxford Research Group

Abigail Watson – Conflict and Security Policy Coordinator at Saferworld

In a special series of podcasts we talk with people involved in the development and evolution of ORG from its early days.

In this episode, ORG interviews Paul Rogers, Emeritus Professor of Peace Studies at Bradford University and a Oxford Research Group's Senior Fellow in International Security. We  discuss his impressive career in the field of international security and in particular, his crucial role in the development of the Oxford Research Group.

Music by BenSound

About the discussants

Paul Rogers is Oxford Research Group's Senior Fellow in International Security and Professor of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford.

Alasdair Mckay is Senior Editor at Oxford Research Group

Abigail Watson – Conflict and Security Policy Coordinator at Saferworld

As Covid-19 reshapes the world and Britain begins its Integrated Defence and Security Review, what does the word “security” really mean in 2020 – and what structures, skills and mindsets are necessary to achieve it. This PS21 virtual panel examines those questions, as well as how the UK can balance geopolitics, human rights and fast changing technology to survive and thrive in an increasingly messy, complex century.

Speakers

Aditi Gupta (Moderator) – All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, on the board for Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security UK

Abigail Watson – Conflict and Security Policy Coordinator at Saferworld

Josh Arnold-Forster – Defence consultant and former Special Adviser to UK Defence Secretary John Reid

Emma Salisbury – PhD candidate at Birbeck College specialising in emerging technology and the military-industrial complex.

Abigail Watson is joined by Camilla Molyneux and Mark Godwin-Hudson to discuss the Overseas Operations Bill. 

Music by Bensound

Abigail Watson is Conflict and Security Policy Coordinator at Saferworld.

Camilla Molyneux is a research consultant and policy advisor at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, with a focus on sustainable security, civilian protection in armed conflict and parliamentary scrutiny over the use of force. 

Mark Goodwin-Hudson is a former British Army officer and head of the NATO civilian casualty investigation and mitigation team in 2016.  

Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen is joined by Ewan Lawson, an ORG Fellow, and Save the Children's Amanda Brydon to discuss the importance of incorporating a strong focus of the protection of civilians into UK policy and how this may factor in the forthcoming Integrated Review. 

Further Reading

Forging a New Path: Prioritising the Protection of Civilians in the UK’s Response to Conflict

Questions for the Integrated Review #3: How Should the UK Measure Success?

Questions for the Integrated Review #2: How to Engage: Deep and Narrow or Wide and Shallow?

Questions for the Integrated Review: #1 How Do We Define Security?

The UK Strategy on Protection of Civilians: Insights for the Review Process

Music by BenSound

Image credit: UNMISS. 

Hijab Shah of CSIS and Dorith Kool from HCSS join the Remote Warfare Programme team to discuss partner legitimacy, security force assistance and security sector reform. 

Music by BENSOUND.  

Saferworld's Ali Altiok and Jordan Street join the podcast to discuss emergence of the four pillar of the United Nations - counter-terrorism. 

Music by BenSound. 

Image credit: UN Photo. 

In this episode Christopher Kinsey and Helene Olsen from Kings College London join the podcast to discuss private military and security contractors and their role in remote warfare

Music by BenSound.

In this episode we’ll be joined by Jolle Demmers and Lauren Gould from the Utrecht University to discuss the use of remote warfare by democratic states and the problems yielded by this practice.

ORG recently launched its Sustainable Security Index. The Index measures 155 states’ impact on global insecurity. The Index report makes the case for why states need to rethink their approaches to security. This means moving beyond narrow understandings of the concept and towards an integrated approach that addresses broader threats to human security, such as climate change, poor governance, pandemics and inequality.

On 9 June ORG hosted a webinar where an expert panel, including Dr Rachel Kleinfeld, Delina Goxho and Dr Oliver Scanlan, discussed the report’s key themes and findings.