About the Commission

Over the last twenty years the national and international security landscape has changed dramatically. Policymakers are working hard to adapt and to keep up with the pace of change, but the challenges are profound and the progress uneven. In response to these developments, the ippr hosted an independent all-party Commission on National Security in the 21st Century, co-chaired by Lord George Robertson and Lord Paddy Ashdown. 

Read more.

Latest report

Shared Responsibilities: A national security strategy for the UK 

Our report, as with our interim report is a call to action. We face serious and worsening international security challenges but provided we are willing to learn lessons,  to find the necessary political will and to adapt our policy solutions and instruments to new circumstances, there is much that can be done.

Events

Running alongside the Commission’s work, ippr hosted a series of high-level security lectures from key policymakers, which will continue during 2009 and 2010. These events are intended to serve as major policy statements and, as such, significant contributions to public debate. Read more information about these lectures; some transcripts and recordings are available.

Featured Research

In November 2008, the Commission published its interim report, Shared Destinies: Security in a Globalised World. This report seeks to lay the foundations for a re-think of UK national security strategy in the context of a new global security environment, and to provide a constructive challenge to the policies already being taken forward by government.

This research involved a new map of 27 'Swing States' which it has identified as pivotal in the struggle for international peace and stability. View the map here.

Commission Secretariat

ippr’s International and Security Programme housed the Research Secretariat for the Commission. The secretariat was directed by Ian Kearns (Deputy Chair of the Commission). Other members includedAndy Hull (Senior Research Fellow), Alex Glennie (Researcher) and Katie Paintin (Researcher). ippr also drew on the expertise of a number of consultants and associate fellows to support this work.

For more information about the Commission's activities, please get in touch on i.kearns@ippr.org / a.hull@ippr.org