To move towards a resolution, recognising that the time may not yet be ripe for a meaningful peace agreement, ORG and the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS) are working to strengthen local capacity for more inclusive and strategic dialogue in two of Yemen’s key regions, Marib and Hadhramout. Read more
In this paper, SPP Director Emily Richardson and ORG consultant Professor Oliver Ramsbotham outline ORG’s unique methodology for Collective Strategic Thinking which helps conflict parties assess where they are, where they want to be, and how to get there. Read more
We chose to launch our new name on 21 September to coincide with the International day of Peace which calls on people around the world to join together to promote a culture of peace. On this day, ORG proudly joins with 130 other peacebuilding organisations worldwide in endorsing a shared statement, Implementing the New Commitments to Peace. Read more
Did we really need 2.6 million words and 7 years of investigations to be told we should be making better decisions when we go to war? Oxford Research Group was clear – as is now decidedly stated in the Chilcot report – that invasion would intensify the risks of internal strife and Al-Qaeda activity in Iraq. But there was no room for critics of the war as a small sofa cabal of advisors to Tony Blair were already convinced of the its efficacy. Read more
This article provides a brief summary of the academic insight on timing in conflict mediation, summarizes major theories on this matter and argues that, with the right mediation strategy, there is never an unsuitable time to engage in fruitful peace initiatives. Read more
This paper offers an overall conceptual framework for the venture. What is the difference between strategic studies and conflict resolution? Why do strategic studies and conflict resolution both need to adapt in response to changing patterns of contemporary conflict? How can they mutually inform each other? And what are some of the wider implications for possible future collaborative work? Read more
The Oxford Research Group (ORG) has published an Arabic language journal on conflict resolution in cooperation with the Regional Center for Strategic Studies (RCSS) in Cairo. Titled Interconnected Trajectories: Managing Complicated Conflicts in the Middle East, the journal was the outcome of a joint meeting between ORG and RCSS in Cairo in May 2015. Read more
A genuine, if brief, debate took place amongst the political classes in the UK on the dangers of intervening or not intervening in Syria in advance of the British Parliament’s vote to expand its military action from Iraq to Syria. But it seems that we live in a world of amnesiac thinking driven by fine words and high ambition rather than clear strategy. The reality of the murkiness of war and the fog of peace are much more disturbing. Read more
This article by ORG’s founder and patron, Scilla Elworthy, is based on a keynote address given to the “Making Deterrence work in the Twenty-first Century” forum held at Merton College, Oxford, 15 July 2015, hosted by the Ministry of Defence’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC) and the University of Oxford Changing Character of War Programme Read more
ORG provided vital support for the E3+3 negotiations on the Iranian nuclear programme from 2009-2013. Using our networks of senior contacts in Iran, the US, Russia and EU states, we quietly built and nurtured relationships at the highest political level and facilitated off-the-record dialogue with Iranian officials involved in the official negotiation and decision-making process. Read more
ORG’s Global Security Consultant Paul Rogers is among 25 conflict analysts and peace-builders who have called for a public conversation about how best to build long-term security for people in the UK and worldwide. Read more
This briefing reviews the positions of Hamas and Israel at the end of August, assessing the extent of the damage and the security implications for each side. It then examines some of the wider regional elements, particularly in relation to Israeli perceptions of security, and how they may change. Read more
This is the second in a series of four papers[3] (see respective links at the bottom of this publication), each of which examines one of these four potential drivers of insecurity, and the ways in which each trend (in this case, marginalisation) may engender local and international discord. Read more
Here are 50 short accounts from all over the world of what ordinary people are doing to stop war and killing, armed only with integrity, stamina and courage. These stories show how powerful non-violence can be. They give an indication of what works, who does it, where, and how much it costs. Read more