Research

Deterrence is the art of influencing others' perceived cost-benefit calculation such that they choose not to take actions that you don't want them to take. Coercion is the same, but in the opposite direction: altering the costs and benefits that others perceive themselves as facing such that they take actions you do want them to take. Both are central to the conduct and analysis of statecraft, and can be conducted via various different ways and means (military, economic, diplomatic, etc). Strategic (in)stability, meanwhile, is the extent to which states assess they can and must eschew offensive action – that is, rely on deterrence and mutual accommodation – instead of resorting to aggression to try to advance their interests.

SSI is a leading UK centre for the study of these related subjects, with Dr David Blagden having published on the interaction between technology and geography in shaping the offence-defence balance, the effects of advanced conventional weapons proliferation on strategic stability, the deterrence of cyber coercion, the influence of maritime separation on insular powers' strategic behaviour, and the place of nuclear weapons in UK military posture (among other topics).

• Excellence in decision-making.
• Effective team building.
• Professionalism in leadership.
• Character reliability under stress.
• Behaviours that respect others.
• Making practical sense of values and standards.
• Opportunities and risks offered by AI technologies.
• Protecting against moral injury and promoting moral health.
• Questioning and using traditional just war theory.
• Having a warrior code.
• Interrogating tensions between ethics and law.
• Gaining clarity about core moral principles.
• Exercising virtue.

Military ethics is all of the above, and more. This richly diverse field of studies ranges from high-level strategic questions about what rises to the level of an armed attack under international law, through operational challenges about how to deploy personnel, to tactical questions regarding particular uses of force. 

Ethical challenges run across defence, security and resilience. Military personnel, and other relevant decision-makers must be equipped to make the best available choices in the face of strategic and operational questions about new defence technologies, sub-threshold hostile action by (potential) adversaries, challenging personnel behaviours, etc.  To support your personal development and skill set, the Strategic Study Institute (SSI) has access to world-leading research across: human performance, ethics, governance and the law; homeland security; geopolitics; technological advantage; chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear protection; physical, climate risk, and more. 

Together, we ask the tough questions and consider what ethical approaches are adequate for changing security environment(s). No one has all the answers. But the SSI takes seriously the ethical dimensions of military and related decision-making, and we look forward to working with you.

Professor Esther D. Reed works in military ethics. Research interests include evolutions in just war reasoning for changing threat environments, new weapons technologies and accountability for the taking of human life, deterrence, just and prudent responses to adversary hostilities below the threshold of war, religious teachings about war and peace, virtue ethics, ethical decision-making, ethical leadership, ethical teaming, human-machine teaming, the ethics of institutions. She is also working currently at the interface between military ethics and moral injury, and on the ethics of weapons control.

Publications include articles on militarised humanitarian intervention and targeted killings, natural law reasoning, and theological perspectives on the ethics of territorial borders.

She has monographs on Theology for International Law and The Limits of Responsibility: Engaging Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a Globalizing Era, and co-edited a collection on Civil Liberties, National Security and Prospects for Consensus: Legal, Philosophical and Religious Perspectives.

Recent publications 
Reed, E.D. (2023) Accountability for the Taking of Human Life with LAWS in War. Ethics  & International Affairs. 37(3):299-308:
Reed, E. D. (2024). On Limited Force: Prudence Below the Threshold of War. SCE, 37(3), 550-569. 

Future publication
An Ethic for Future Security Environment(s): Proposals for (Un)Just War Reasoning (forthcoming)

Esther has lead-supervised 16+ research students to successful completion of MbyRes/MPhil/PhD theses. She has collaborated with military personnel/organisations and the mining sector.

Battlefield Forensics is a defence and security theme that utilises the scientific methods and techniques of forensic investigation in contexts relating to conflict. It is a multidisciplinary approach, drawing on forensic science, policing and military intelligence, biometrics, information management, and the legal frameworks that govern operations, including international humanitarian law and human rights law. The theme focuses on three interlinked areas of research that cut across the full conflict continuum, including pre-conflict, grey zone (hybrid), conflict, and post-conflict: (1) security and intelligence; (2) collection and analysis of battlefield material; and (3) victim identification and rule-of-law outcomes. Ultimately, Battlefield Forensics aims to strengthen timely, reliable and interoperable practices that support force protection, counter-threat-network activity, accountability, and humanitarian identification.

Professor Karl Harrison is a former National Forensic Specialist Adviser and has worked in the field of forensic investigation for over twenty years, in the UK and internationally. Focussed on forensic archaeology, Karl has a broad background in scene forensics and major scene coordination and has provided forensic strategy advice across a range of complex major investigations. Beyond a broad interest in all aspects of wet forensic strategy applications, Karl's research interests in traditional archaeology are focused on the examination of burnt structures preserved in the archaeological record.  

Rikke Michelle Rietveld is a Master Sergeant in the Danish Armed Forces, with a diverse background spanning infantry, artillery, and technical intelligence. She holds an MSc in Forensic Investigation from Cranfield University, combining military pragmatism with academic insight. She has deployed to the Balkans, Afghanistan and Africa. Her work has focused on countering explosive threats and forensic intelligence in support of military operations. Leveraging years of developing and implementing military forensics on international operations and exercises, she is recognised as a dedicated specialist in her field. For the last three years, Rikke has spearheaded efforts to develop a comprehensive battlefield forensics framework using NATO as a case study, integrating military, government and civilian contributors to improve intelligence gathering, support investigations and enhance operational decision-making.