The independent resource on global security

Backgrounders

Gender training for police peacekeepers: Approaching two decades of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325

Dr Marina Caparini

As Resolution 1325 approaches its 20th anniversary, it is a good time to take stock of how it has changed the way in which the UN acts by focusing on the training of police peacekeepers. 

Police Reform in Northern Ireland: Achievements and Future Challenges

Dr Marina Caparini and Juneseo Hwang

Policing played a central role in the long sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland.

Revising the EU Dual-use Regulation: Challenges and opportunities for the trilogue process

Dr Mark Bromley and Paul Gerharz

The 2009 EU Dual-use Regulation (Council Regulation 428/2009) creates a common legal basis for European Union (EU) member states’ controls on the trade in ‘dual-use items’ (i.e.

The crucial role of the military in the Venezuelan crisis

Dr Nan Tian and Dr Diego Lopes da Silva

In January 2019 Venezuela’s opposition-led National Assembly swore in congressman Juan Guaidó as the country’s interim president.

Pursuing elusive stability in the Sahel

Zoë Gorman

Despite an expanding cast of security actors responding to conflicts in Mali, insecurity is escalating and spreading across porous borders throughout the Sahel region. The attack on 23 March 2019, the deadliest in the region since 2013, by a Dozo hunting militia killing at least 160 Fulani villagers in central Mali near the border with Burkina Faso, indicates an increasingly volatile security environment with entrenched, intercommunal grievances.

Saudi Arabia, armaments and conflict in the Middle East

Pieter D. Wezeman

This topical backgrounder puts a spotlight on armament developments in Saudi Arabia, the country with the highest levels of military spending and arms imports in the Middle East. It aims to contribute to the efforts by SIPRI to gain a better understanding of the impact of militarization on security, conflict, peace and development in the region.

Dissecting international concerns about Iran’s missiles

Dr Tytti Erästö

While trying to save the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the Iran nuclear deal, some European leaders have stepped up pressure on Iran’s ballistic missile programme, simultaneously demanding talks and threatening sanctions.

How much does Russia spend on nuclear weapons?

Professor Julian Cooper

This topical backgrounder begins with an overview of Russia’s large-scale nuclear modernization programme, which started after the adoption of its state armament programme for 2011–20. It then outlines Russia’s nuclear institutions and how the expenditure is managed within Russia’s federal budget and provides an estimate of Russian spending on nuclear weapons between the years 2010 and 2016.