Militarism examined
23 Sep 2021Blood Money: UK Compensation Payments for Afghan Civilian Harm Examined
British forces paid compensation for the deaths of at least 289 civilians in Afghanistan, including as many as 86 children, during their combat mission, according to new analysis by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).
17 Sep 2021The Digital Dogs of War: inside the DSEI
AOAV's Executive Director visits the DSEI to see how London’s biggest arms trade fair reveals the true face of modern conflict, and why civilians will bear the brunt of this autonomous, distanced new form of warfare
14 Sep 2021How British military spending, plagued by inefficiency and spiralling costs, should be carefully watched at DSEI
As London's largest arms trade fair opens, AOAV looks at recent failures in British government arms procurement serving as a warning from history
3 Sep 2021UK government cannot say if it has trained Indonesian police forces implicated in human rights abuse
A Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Defence found that the Government does not hold information about who it trains in Indonesia
19 Aug 2021Myanmar Police Force were trained by British officers, UK Government admits
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has shown how, under a European Union scheme named Mypol, the two officers visited the politically turbulent country in 2017. The initiative was aimed to help modernise the police force by providing equipment and training. It was suspended by the EU in February this year after Myanmar’s military staged a coup and responded violently to subsequent protests.
6 Aug 2021Military op whose disclosure MOD says ‘threat to national security’ published in British Army Magazines
Two British Army Regiments have published the location of a military operation deemed by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) too secret to be revealed, an investigation has found.
- 29 Jul 2021
The UK’s New Elite Regiment & the Evasion of Democracy
Murray Jones explores whether the specialist forces will simply be allowed to fly under the radar
21 Jul 2021UK Gov Launches BattleLab, but questions remain as to what will be “innovated” in its military laboratory
In August 2020, the Ministry of Defence (MOD), in partnership with Dorset Council and Dorset Local Enterprise, launched a new entity called BattleLab. What this conflict laboratory will create, though, is far from clear.
19 Jul 2021Witnessing the final days of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan
AOAV researcher George Fairhurst files this report from Kabul about a country in chaos, as US, UK and Nato troops pull out from a country they have been at war in for two decades.
21 Jun 2021The United Kingdom’s ‘Tilt’ towards the Indo-Pacific
The ‘tilt’ is, in large part, an embodiment of the idea that following the UK’s departure from the European Union (EU), the UK can pursue a more global agenda. As Johnson put it, the UK post-Brexit has a “massive opportunity to expand our horizons and to think globally and to think big”
30 Apr 2021England and Wales data on Homicide, Domestic Violence, Sexual Offences, and Child Abuse examined
A decade of homicide, domestic violence, sexual offences and child abuse in England and Wales with an eye towards tracking harm and highlighting perhaps under-reported instances of harm.
14 Apr 2021UK Government suffers Lords defeat on key proposals in Overseas Operations Bill
The UK government was defeated yesterday (13 April, 2021) in the House of Lords, as peers backed a Labour-led move to block the introduction of a presumption against prosecution for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and torture.