Warpod

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.

ORG Fellow Emily Knowles and Jahara Matisek, a US Air Force Officer, join ORG's Research Manager Abigail Watson to discuss security force assistance and how it can be used as a peacebuilding tool.

Image credit: US Army Africa/Flickr.  

Music by Bensound.

About the discussants

Abigail Watson is the Research Manager at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

Emily Knowles is a Fellow at ORG. 

Jahara ‘Franky’ Matisek is a Major in the US Air Force and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Military and Strategic Studies at the US Air Force Academy and is a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at the US Military Academy at West Point. The views expressed by him in this podcast are his own and do not reflect those of the U.S. government, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force Academy, or U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Abigail Watson is joined by Mary Harper the BBC's Africa Editor to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on Somalia and how it may affect the prospects for peace in the country. 

Music by Bensound

Daniel Mahanty and Beatrice Godefoy of the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) join the podcast to discuss the protection of civilians in partnered operations. 

Music by BenSound. 

Liam Walpole and Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen discuss the latest defence and security policy developments in UK politics. This month the two talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic could impact the forthcoming integrated review and the recent election of Sir Keir Starmer as Labour Party leader.

Music by BenSound.

Image credit: UK Parliament/Flickr. 

About the discussants

Liam Walpole is the Policy Manager at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen is the Research and Policy Officer at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

Liam Walpole, ORG's Policy Manager, is joined by two experts from the Danish Institute for International Studies, Peter Albrecht and Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde, to examine the importance of effective protection of civilians, looking at case studies from the Sahel and West Africa.

Music by BenSound

About the discussants

Liam Walpole is the Policy Manager at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

Peter Albrecht is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).

Signe Marie Cold-Ravnkilde is a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS).

Liam Walpole and Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen discuss the latest defence and security policy developments in UK politics.

Music by Bensound

Marwa Baabbad, Head of ORG's International Projects, is joined by the Middle East Institute's Nadwa Al-Dawsari and Fatima Abo Alasrar to debunk five popular myths about the conflict in Yemen.

Music by Bensound

About the discussants

Marwa Baabbad is Head of International Projects with ORG’s Strategic Peacebuilding Programme. She manages the project Yemen: Rethinking the Peace Process, working with Yemenis engaged in regional strategic thinking groups in Hadramaut and Marib governorates. She joined ORG in July 2018.

Fatima Abo Alasrar is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute. Before joining the Institute, Alasrar was a Senior Analyst at the Arabia Foundation in Washington DC, MENA Director for Cure Violence, Research Associate at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, and an International Policy Fellow at the Open Society Foundation. From 2006-12, she worked as an advisor for the Embassy of Yemen in Washington, DC. Earlier in her career, Alasrar served as a program officer for the Department for International Development (DFID) in Yemen.

Nadwa Al-Dawsari is a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute. Before joining the institute, she was the Yemen Country Director for Center for Civilians in Conflict, a Senior Non-resident Fellow at the Project on Middle East Democracy, and a founding Director of Partners Yemen, a local affiliate center of Partners Global.  Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior program manager at the National Democratic Institute in Yemen, managing elections monitoring and tribal conflicts programs. Nadwa has over 20 years of field experience in Yemen. She conducted extensive research in Yemen, providing deeper insights into the internal dynamics of the conflict in the country. Her publications have been featured by the Middle East Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Atlantic Council, Lawfare, Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), the Washington Post, and the Center for Civilians in Conflict, among others.

In this episode, Liam Walpole and Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen talk to David Grealy about the impact of David Owen on the genealogy of Britain’s ethical foreign policy.

Remote Warfare and the Practical Challenges for the Protection of Civilians Strategy

Fusion Doctrine in Five Steps: Lessons Learned from Remote Warfare in Africa

Rhodesia, 1977-1979: David Owen, Human Rights and British Foreign Policy

Image credit: Public Domain.

Music by BenSound

About the discussants

Liam Walpole is the Policy Manager at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

Megan Karlshoej-Pedersen is the Research and Policy Officer at ORG's Remote Warfare Programme.

David Grealy is a PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool where he received his BA in history (2014) and a Master’s degree in twentieth century history (2015). His research focuses primarily on British diplomatic perspectives on the human rights ‘breakthrough’ of the 1970s. David was a participant of the Global Humanitarianism Research Academy 2017.