Publication: November 2011
At a time of renewed media speculation about the possibility of an Israeli military strike on Iran over its nuclear programme and ahead of today’s IAEA report, Oxford Research Group (ORG) is publishing its briefing 'The Long-term Consequences of an Israeli Attack on Iran'. The briefing by ORG’s Global Security Consultant, Professor Paul Rogers, builds on his widely quoted report, 'Military Action Against Iran: Impact and Effects' from July 2010.
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News item: Tuesday, 19 April 2011
The Palestinian Strategy Group (PSG) held its third and final workshop in Istanbul in March 2011. Senior representation from across the political parties, which included Fatah and Hamas, were present at the table. The aim of the third workshop was to explore strategic options in achieving Palestinian goals of statehood. The previous two workshops took place in Jericho (April 2010) and Gaza (September 2010).
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Publication: March 2011
Paul Rogers' March briefing looks at the ongoing political protests across the Middle East and the aftermath of the fall of Mubarak in Egypt. The briefing also puts NATO's role in perspective.
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Publication: May 2012
The ongoing instability and declining security situation in Pakistan was the subject of our latest 'Liddite Conversation'. While not yet on a precipice, Pakistan is facing serious difficulties, which could, if left unaddressed, reach a point of no return in the coming years. The next two electoral cycles are key. For the UK, Pakistan is of far greater strategic concern than Afghanistan. It could become the top UK foreign policy issue from 2014/5.
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News item: Thursday, 05 April 2012
ORG is now on Facebook and Twitter. Join us to keep up to date with our work and help us promote the idea of sustainable approaches to security as an alternative to violent conflict! Thanks for your support!
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Publication: March 2012
One of the key issues in the current context of the Iran crisis is whether Israel has the military capability to damage Iranian nuclear weapons potential. A number of recent public domain analyses point to considerable difficulties that Israel would have in staging such an attack. But is this actually true? How would the Israeli Military carry out such attack, and is it right that any strikes would only be targeting nuclear facilities?
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Publication: February 2012
Over the past three months a sense of impending crisis has developed over the risk of an Israeli military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. ORG has previously analysed the nature and possible outcomes of a war involving Iran, including a detailed briefing (Iran: Consequences of a War, February, 2006) and a more recent assessment specifically concerned with possible Israeli action (The Long-term Consequences of and Israeli Attack in Iran, November 2011). It has also examined negotiating options, including the May 2011 paper Talking to the Enemy: Creating New Structures for Negotiations. This briefing is concerned more with the political context of the current tensions, with emphasis on three states – Iran, Israel and the United States.
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Publication: February 2012
Divisions between the rich industrialised North and the ‘majority world’ are a key and intensifying driver of global insecurity. While overall global wealth has increased, the benefits of this economic growth have not been equally shared. The rich-poor divide is growing. Deepening oppression and political exclusion amongst communities in the South combine with poverty and discrimination to present an increasingly dynamic threat to national and international stability.
This is the second in a series of four papers, each of which examines one potential driver of insecurity, and the ways in which each trend - in this case, marginalisation - may engender local and international discord. Each paper is the result of long-term collaboration between Oxford Research Group and partners across the ‘Global South’.
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News item: Monday, 13 February 2012
Our Middle East programme has launched a new project engaging with the "forgotten Palestinians", the 1.2 million Palestinian citizens of Israel. Since the ongoing conflict in the region has always focussed on Israel’s relationship with Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza, and the neighbouring Arab states, the Palestinian citizens of Israel have been neglected as a national, religious, linguistic and cultural minority. However, Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 20% of the population of Israel, and are both key to the peace process, as well as deeply affected by any future settlement. Still, they have so far not been given a real voice to contribute to processes and negotiations that will affect their future. In close consultation with local partners and prospective participants, we have shaped a new project that will seriously engage with the issues of the Palestinians in Israel. We aim to foster inclusive internal dialogue among Palestinians in Israel to develop a strategic vision in order to impact policy-making in Israel and internationally.
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Publication: January 2012
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warning of a possible world recession came in parallel with fears expressed at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos about the spread of protests across the world. Given that Oxford Research Group (ORG) has long argued that the widening wealth-poverty divide is both damaging to communities and a danger to peace, do the current protests, such as the “Occupy” movement, point to a larger global trend or are they isolated, short-term and probably irrelevant? This briefing looks at the Western protests in relation to more deep-seated problems in countries, such as China and India, and puts this wider view in a broad historical perspective.
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Publication: January 2012
Writing for Foreign Policy in Focus, ORG's Ben Zala argues that a new report from the World Economic Forum, which tries to make sense of the wave of protest and unrest sweeping the world, may signal a new approach to global security in Western capitals. Not long ago the World Economic Forum (WEF) found itself in the sights of the global economic justice movement. At the turn of the last century, before anyone was “occupying” public spaces in protest at the growing inequalities between the top strata of society and the rest, a broad global coalition of environment, development, and peace activists were targeting the public meetings of major institutions such as the WTO, the IMF, and the G8. A mere 12 years later, in an intriguing reversal, the WEF has released a new report calling for a “shift in mentality” to address a looming crisis typified by rebellion, protest, and political violence, sparked by inequality and marginalisation across the world.
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News item: Thursday, 22 December 2011
The ORG team would like to thank all our readers and our supporters this Christmas and New Year!
Your support and contributions are vital in maintaining ORG's ability to understand the causes of insecurity, to promote new approaches to global security and to push for changes in international policy.
At a time of continuing global insecurity, as well as financial insecurity, gifts from individuals become ever more important. With your help, over the coming year, ORG will be able to develop its work - advancing new visions of Sustainable Security, addressing alternatives to conflict in the Middle East, and developing its work to make sure Every Casualty of armed violence is recorded.
If you would like to help ensure that ORG's unique contribution to alternative security thinking continues, please consider making a one-off donation, becoming a supporter or sustainer, or remembering ORG in your will.
Your help is important in making the world a safer place.
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Publication: December 2011
The Durban climate change conference produced a higher level of agreement than many analysts predicted, but its response did not match the scale of the problem. Recent evidence indicates that climate change will be a transforming issue in the coming decades and will require responses that embrace radical changes in our understanding of security.
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News item: Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Following the public launch of the 'Charter for the Recognition of Every Casualty of Armed Violence', the Every Casualty team has redeveloped www.everycasualty.org into a more dynamic, purposeful and accessible public platform. The new site highlights the Charter and its signatories, and how others can join them. It also gives prominence to the International Practitioner Network (IPN) of casualty recorders. Other new features include...
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