Critical defence challenges mean the Government must invest in people so that they can develop the skills and knowledge to secure essential infrastructure from cyberattacks and sabotage, experts have warned.
Critical national infrastructure is now at the frontline of a constant barrage of attempted cyberattacks and sabotage, blurring the lines of where the country's defence ends and begins.
The complex interweaving of contemporary networks and energy supplies means that a wide array of sites and systems could be vulnerable.
These challenges are outlined in a new collection of essays by experts from the University of Exeter's Centre for the Public Understanding of Defence and Security.
Strategy in the Spotlight: Culture, Comradeship and Capability in UK Defence and Security will be launched at the Royal United Services Institute in London this week.
Essays cover such topics as the depiction of violent conflict in the work of war poets, the ways in which public opinion shapes foreign policy and how social connections can help improve veteran physical and mental health. The argument is also made for greater openness about the those who work in the UK intelligence community.
Professor Paul Cornish, Director of the Centre for the Public Understanding of Defence and Security, said: "This is a world in which the so-called 'rules-based international order' that has been the organising principle of international politics since the late 1940s is being increasingly questioned, if not overturned, by governments, regimes and enterprises.
"It is difficult to see how defence and security policy that seeks to avoid public debate or to offer bluster and condescension in place of public understanding could be at all convincing or enduring. We hope these important essays will play a part in improving the quality of the public debate in the field of defence and security."
The need for investment in cyber security skills is outlined by Dr Harry Pitts. He emphasises the importance of the commitments made in the UK Resilience Action Plan to train thousands of public and private sector personnel for the protection of state and society and shows how the culture of our public institutions can seem uniquely ill-matched to the pace, innovation and decisiveness demanded by a fast-moving and rapidly unravelling world picture.
Dr Pitts also highlights the relatively adventurous experimentation that saw the civil service rapidly roll out Taskforce Kindred to supply the Ukrainian frontline with the latest and most cutting-edge UK defence technology, suggesting that it might provide a working model of the structures and talent needed to "smash through the cultural stasis of an ailing British state".
Professor Hugh Roberts shares the experience and insights of Ukraine's warrior poets, possibly the most significant body of poetry by combatants since the First World War, and work can help understand defence and security in the UK and beyond. The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture has collected over 40,000 poems written since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Dr Catarina Thomson shows how public opinion matters very much in the formation of foreign policy, but 'snapshots' of events carry less weight in policy terms than the way underlying public attitudes can interact with international events. In her essay she shows the UK public are generally supportive of military action, even in times of relative peace. Public support for Ukraine in the UK is as staunch as it is among Eastern Europeans or in countries that have only recently joined NATO.
Dr Stefan Schilling and his co-authors Summer Bedford, Juliet Wakefield and Tarli Young show the importance of social connectedness to military veterans. Some 16,000 veterans leave the UK Armed Forces each year, too often taking with them a struggle with mental health problems compounded by social isolation and loneliness. Their essay says the dominant focus on practical support for veterans neglects the deeper challenge: the loss of military identity and purpose, and a meaningful sense of group belonging. Social connectedness must be recognised as a core component of defence strategy, with targeted investment in evidence-based interventions that strengthen identity, belonging, and support during and beyond service.
Roo Haywood-Smith, a British Army veteran, writes about how the UK Armed Forces Covenant should be welcomed an era of global instability.
Professor Frances Tammer argues that, while there are palpable security reasons for keeping hidden the vast majority of UK intelligence work, with significant amounts of public money spent on the UK Intelligence Community there are democratic and transparency issues at stake. Professor Tammer recommends the government should develop a comprehensive strategy and mechanisms for communicating more about the UK Intelligence Community taking advantage of the greater use of "Open Source" intelligence.
