Reports
Our commitment to informed advocacy drives us to commission research from leading academics. These studies result in impactful reports that help us advance our mission.
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Here, you'll find a collection of these influential reports. Explore the valuable insights they offer on various aspects of conscientious objection, military taxation, and related issues.
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This report, written by Dr Tim Street for Conscience, provides an assessment of the Labour Party’s proposal to create a Minister for Peace and Disarmament (MPD) and highlights the political and practical obstacles to, and opportunities for, the post being a success.
Conducting this assessment was important, firstly because of the lack of civil society and public discussion concerning what the remit and implications of an MPD would be. Secondly, the controversial nature of several of the issues that the MPD could cover, such as regulating the arms trade or conventional and nuclear disarmament, require careful consideration if appropriate policy proposals are to be developed.
Overall, based on the responses of people from the peace, disarmament and security community interviewed for this study, the relevant institutional experiences of British and foreign governments and the current state of domestic and international politics, the report concludes that there is significant potential in the MPD concept, but that it requires further thought and attention from Labour and civil society before it is established and developed in government.
This report provides insight into, and analysis of, the non-military security solutions utilised by the British government and some British non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
It indicates the current British capacities for peacebuilding and presents the diverse and wide-reaching scope of non-military security solutions available to combat conflict and the suffering it causes.
The report substantiates that both the government and NGOs maintain strong capacities and expertise in non-military security solutions and finds that the British government has made significant commitments to
peacebuilding activities which do not necessarily align with its current allocation of resources to military and non-military approaches. This report hopes to provide an adequate basis for materials and recommendations which may be presented to the public in support of non-military-based peacebuilding, while also serving as a challenge to the current levels and patterns of military spending by the British government.
This report has been written for conscience by Eufracia Taylor.
If you have any comments or suggestions you would like to raise about the content of this report or if you would like to contact the author, please click here to email us.
At the beginning of 2011 the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee published a deeply critical report highlighting the current failings of the UK’s approach to the War in Afghanistan.
Engaging Afghanistan reports on the extent of the misery being faced by the Afghan people and examines its causes. It finds that the emphasis on using military force to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency is deeply flawed as it has alienated the Afghan people and done little to address their most pressing concerns. More positively, Engaging Afghanistan also offers an alternative, non-military approach to Afghanistan inspired by the Good Friday Agreement.
The purpose of this report is to help foster debate about what could and should be done at this point in the War in Afghanistan. Public debate is vital, and as a country at war, we should be actively looking for solutions that bring about peace.
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This report has been written for conscience by Thomas Furber. If you have any comments or suggestions you would like to raise about the content of this report or if you would like to contact the author, please click here to email us.
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This policy summary is the conclusion of several round table meetings hosted by the Peace and Security Liaison Group (PSLG), of which Conscience was a founder member.
The meetings brought together government officials, academics, think tanks and NGOs in discussions that aimed to strengthen the UK government’s conflict prevention and peacebuilding capacity by facilitating thinking on a more consistent approach to the formulation and implementation of policies which promote peace and security.
Peace is not achieved by increased investment in, and preparation for, war. If we want peace we have to invest in nonviolent solutions to conflict. The endless cycle of violent military intervention and threat can be broken by non-military security initiatives that seek to achieve real human security.
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Every government wants to protect and promote peace abroad. The Conflict Pool (CP) is a unique and effective form of government funding for UK peacebuilding projects around the world.
A series of events often precede any conflict in failed states whether it’s famine, violence towards women or the proliferation of small arms.