Joe Devanny
@joedevanny.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer | National Security & Cyber | Department of War Studies | King’s College London | All views mine, etc.
Prescriptive, and politically instrumental, debates about British values will struggle to capture this intrinsic plurality of experiences that Britishness encompasses.
February 3, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Prescriptive, and politically instrumental, debates about British values will struggle to capture this intrinsic plurality of experiences that Britishness encompasses.
This commentary rightly highlights the fluidity of national identities: they are contested, reshaped over time. The debate about defining Britishness as a national identity is also complex as the UK is a pluri-national state, & with many overlapping factors shaping personal identity experiences.
Jeevun Sandher MP: Matt Goodwin isn't very British
Britain’s finest hour was a fundamental rejection of petty ethnonationalism. Reform should remember that
Britain’s finest hour was a fundamental rejection of petty ethnonationalism. Reform should remember that
Matt Goodwin isn't very British
Britain’s finest hour was a fundamental rejection of petty ethnonationalism. Reform should remember that
www.newstatesman.com
February 3, 2026 at 11:59 AM
This commentary rightly highlights the fluidity of national identities: they are contested, reshaped over time. The debate about defining Britishness as a national identity is also complex as the UK is a pluri-national state, & with many overlapping factors shaping personal identity experiences.
Collective defence agreements with Global South states are clearly a non-starter - if indeed that is what Polanski was trying to articulate (not entirely clear) - but all the effort to enhance European defence can be done without leaving NATO.
February 2, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Collective defence agreements with Global South states are clearly a non-starter - if indeed that is what Polanski was trying to articulate (not entirely clear) - but all the effort to enhance European defence can be done without leaving NATO.
This by @georgeeaton.bsky.social neatly summarises the Green Party’s NATO own goal. I wonder why they’ve persisted for so long with a stance more extreme, unworkable & presumably off-putting-to-voters, than they needed to in cementing the left-of-Labour vote. www.newstatesman.com/politics/gre...
The Greens’ defence problem
Why Zack Polanski will have to abandon his opposition to Nato
www.newstatesman.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:37 AM
This by @georgeeaton.bsky.social neatly summarises the Green Party’s NATO own goal. I wonder why they’ve persisted for so long with a stance more extreme, unworkable & presumably off-putting-to-voters, than they needed to in cementing the left-of-Labour vote. www.newstatesman.com/politics/gre...
Reposted by Joe Devanny
The green industrial revolution is coming
🖊️ Mariana Mazzucato and Anna Hope Emerson
🖊️ Mariana Mazzucato and Anna Hope Emerson
The green industrial revolution is coming
But the government must make sure local communities feel the benefit
www.newstatesman.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:38 AM
The green industrial revolution is coming
🖊️ Mariana Mazzucato and Anna Hope Emerson
🖊️ Mariana Mazzucato and Anna Hope Emerson
This is an interesting essay. I think two things missing are (1) assessment of international security risks posed by China and (2) the continuing importance of hard power, notwithstanding the value of pursuing broad multilateral and normative diplomacy.
China is Britain's future, writes James Schneider. Keir Starmer’s trip should be the dawn of a new era.
China is Britain's future
Keir Starmer's trip should be the dawn of a new era
www.newstatesman.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:46 PM
This is an interesting essay. I think two things missing are (1) assessment of international security risks posed by China and (2) the continuing importance of hard power, notwithstanding the value of pursuing broad multilateral and normative diplomacy.
Corbyn: “An independent foreign policy is one that understands all of the challenges we face: global inequality, displacement and environmental disaster.” Are they really *all* the UK’s challenges? And there’s an implicit assumption, I think, that greater moral clarity is enough to achieve outcomes.
Jeremy Corbyn: Britain needs its own foreign policy, not America's
Britain needs its own foreign policy, not America's
A rules-based international order is not compatible with blind loyalty to the US
www.newstatesman.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Corbyn: “An independent foreign policy is one that understands all of the challenges we face: global inequality, displacement and environmental disaster.” Are they really *all* the UK’s challenges? And there’s an implicit assumption, I think, that greater moral clarity is enough to achieve outcomes.
Good @nytimes.com story about recent US use of cyber capabilities as part of integrated operations, particularly noteworthy emphasis on complementarity and the challenge of building a cyber force. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
How Computer Warfare Is Becoming Part of the Pentagon’s Arsenal
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Good @nytimes.com story about recent US use of cyber capabilities as part of integrated operations, particularly noteworthy emphasis on complementarity and the challenge of building a cyber force. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
This is a persuasive case. I also think liberal democracies need to adopt a pro-active, aggressive threat-hunting approach to identifying and extirpating influence/information operations by hostile state actors. You could call it a campaigning, persistent engagement approach.
Strategic autonomy is a patriotic and democratic opportunity to realign liberal democratic and progressive politics with Europe’s people. buff.ly/Aiz4uBp
January 27, 2026 at 6:12 PM
This is a persuasive case. I also think liberal democracies need to adopt a pro-active, aggressive threat-hunting approach to identifying and extirpating influence/information operations by hostile state actors. You could call it a campaigning, persistent engagement approach.
If done well, and properly resourced, this could improve UK counter-cybercrime efforts.
The UK government on Monday unveiled plans for a far-reaching overhaul of policing that would centralize the fight against cybercrime, fraud and other internet-enabled offenses, arguing the current system is no longer equipped for crimes that are increasingly digital and cross geographic borders.
UK plans sweeping overhaul of policing amid surge in online crimes
The British Home Office published proposals that would include the creation of a new National Police Service, described by officials as Britain’s equivalent of the FBI.
therecord.media
January 27, 2026 at 1:59 PM
If done well, and properly resourced, this could improve UK counter-cybercrime efforts.
There’s a good case for a bicameral system leading to more considered legislation. If the elected first chamber employs a legitimacy argument against the unelected second, there’s an obvious solution that a government with a commanding majority could decide to pursue. What might it be?
I don’t support the Assisted Dying Bill and voted against it, but it is not right for the unelected chamber to block the commons.
EXC - MPs and peers who backed the assisted dying bill now believe it is “near impossible” for it to pass the House of Lords in time because of procedural obstacles used by opponents.
“It is our system at its absolute most dysfunctional,” one MP said.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
“It is our system at its absolute most dysfunctional,” one MP said.
www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
January 27, 2026 at 1:56 PM
There’s a good case for a bicameral system leading to more considered legislation. If the elected first chamber employs a legitimacy argument against the unelected second, there’s an obvious solution that a government with a commanding majority could decide to pursue. What might it be?
I think much of what this oped advocates could be achieved without leaving NATO, and that leaving NATO would make the UK’s current situation worse. But its arguments about the need for the UK to reduce reliance on the US are fair.
The special relationship is dead, by James Schneider
The special relationship is dead
It is time to break away from Nato and the American arms trade, and to be an independent country again
www.newstatesman.com
January 22, 2026 at 3:45 PM
I think much of what this oped advocates could be achieved without leaving NATO, and that leaving NATO would make the UK’s current situation worse. But its arguments about the need for the UK to reduce reliance on the US are fair.
The UK clearly needs to invest in greater independence of capabilities, and intensify cooperation with the NATO MSs that believe in the principles of the NAT, but similarly there’s a strong argument for leaving the diplomatic space to salvage the US relationship post-Trump. Calibration is key.
January 19, 2026 at 11:43 AM
The UK clearly needs to invest in greater independence of capabilities, and intensify cooperation with the NATO MSs that believe in the principles of the NAT, but similarly there’s a strong argument for leaving the diplomatic space to salvage the US relationship post-Trump. Calibration is key.
Worth separating the fact that it could well be smart politics domestically for Polanski to secure this NS oped today, harnessing anti-Trump sentiment as Starmer tries to walk a tight rope, & that some of his arguments (unilateral abolition of nuclear deterrent), are much less smart for UK strategy.
Zack Polanski: Trump's threat to Greenland must be a wake up call for Britain
Trump's threat to Greenland must be a wake up call for Britain
For too long our politicians have toadied to a dangerous president
www.newstatesman.com
January 19, 2026 at 11:38 AM
Worth separating the fact that it could well be smart politics domestically for Polanski to secure this NS oped today, harnessing anti-Trump sentiment as Starmer tries to walk a tight rope, & that some of his arguments (unilateral abolition of nuclear deterrent), are much less smart for UK strategy.
The Trump cyber boast is obviously classic him, but we now know a lot more about how governments think about this than, say, a decade ago, both from deliberate public statements, and then from the larger body of unattributable leaks to media, which obviously require careful interpretation.
January 14, 2026 at 1:53 PM
The Trump cyber boast is obviously classic him, but we now know a lot more about how governments think about this than, say, a decade ago, both from deliberate public statements, and then from the larger body of unattributable leaks to media, which obviously require careful interpretation.
Definitely worth reading this alongside listening to @thegrugq.bsky.social & Tom Uren’s recent discussion of the same topic - role of cyber capabilities in the Venezuela raid. Top line: cyber operations contributed, that wasn’t surprising, & shouldn’t be the main takeaway from the raid.
'Most governments do not disclose offensive cyber operations. Boasting about capabilities is not the usual game' writes @lmhurel.bsky.social in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Layered Ambiguity: US Cyber Capabilities in the Raid to Extract Maduro from Venezuela
The US operation to remove Maduro succeeded despite fundamental ambiguity about what cyber delivered but that opacity has strategic consequences.
www.rusi.org
January 14, 2026 at 1:53 PM
Definitely worth reading this alongside listening to @thegrugq.bsky.social & Tom Uren’s recent discussion of the same topic - role of cyber capabilities in the Venezuela raid. Top line: cyber operations contributed, that wasn’t surprising, & shouldn’t be the main takeaway from the raid.
Reposted by Joe Devanny
Two big things have changed since the SDR was published. One is the more tangible commitment to putting a brigade-sized force into Ukraine. The second is falling trust in the United States, esp post-Greenland. Both could put huge stress on UK defence.
bsky.app/profile/shas...
bsky.app/profile/shas...
I wrote this week on what progress the UK has made six months on from a defence review. Answer seems to be woefully little. “I don’t see any evidence that readiness in terms of ammunition, stockpiles & medical capability has substantively improved at all."
www.economist.com/britain/2026...
www.economist.com/britain/2026...
Six months after a big review, British defence is still in trouble
A deployment to Ukraine and a row with America could upend plans
www.economist.com
January 14, 2026 at 1:24 PM
Two big things have changed since the SDR was published. One is the more tangible commitment to putting a brigade-sized force into Ukraine. The second is falling trust in the United States, esp post-Greenland. Both could put huge stress on UK defence.
bsky.app/profile/shas...
bsky.app/profile/shas...
I think, if you are under fire for lots of U-turns, you should reflect before you repeatedly use the phrase “we are turning the country around.” And around. And around.
January 14, 2026 at 12:28 PM
I think, if you are under fire for lots of U-turns, you should reflect before you repeatedly use the phrase “we are turning the country around.” And around. And around.
This is persuasive, both re: the U-turns and also in the other recent stories about different policy/strategy views emerging in the leadership challenge conversations, and new initiatives to foster intellectual debates across the party. They all highlight the shortcomings of the current centre.
The problem with Labour’s U-turns: rather than showing flexibility they have too often reflected incoherence. www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...
The problem with Labour’s U-turns
Rather than conveying strength and flexibility, they have too often advertised weakness and incoherence
www.newstatesman.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:55 AM
This is persuasive, both re: the U-turns and also in the other recent stories about different policy/strategy views emerging in the leadership challenge conversations, and new initiatives to foster intellectual debates across the party. They all highlight the shortcomings of the current centre.
This is a good report about Iranian government efforts to control internet access, including the most recent and most severe cut off during the current protests.
The regime has attempted to cut off internet access to the outside world but pictures and videos are still emerging, with activists trying to get information out of Iran and help galvanise the protests. ft.trib.al/v1xIsij
January 14, 2026 at 11:48 AM
This is a good report about Iranian government efforts to control internet access, including the most recent and most severe cut off during the current protests.
And you need for your MPs to not be increasingly of the view that you yourself are, in fact, a barnacle.
Unfortunately to make this strategy work you need a boat.
Remember Lynton Crosby’s “barnacles off the boat” strategy? At 2010 and 2015 elections the Tories successfully shed unpopular policies and perceptions that hindered their electoral appeal.
Instead, they focused on core messages they believed would help win over floating voters. It worked.
Instead, they focused on core messages they believed would help win over floating voters. It worked.
January 14, 2026 at 11:20 AM
And you need for your MPs to not be increasingly of the view that you yourself are, in fact, a barnacle.
This is an interesting analysis of how treaty commitments would shape NATO member states’ responses to a US attack on Denmark. I wonder about the likelihood of a different scenario - not an attack but a declared fait accompli - and what the response of Denmark’s allies would be in practice.
My thoughts on whether NATO Allies would be obligated to come to Denmark's assistance if (I can't believe I am saying this) the United States were to attack. Answer: Yes.
Expert backgrounder
What are the obligations of the NATO member States in coming to the assistance of Denmark if the United States uses force against Greenland?
An examination of Article 5 of the Alliance and decision-making process.
By @mikeschmitt.bsky.social
What are the obligations of the NATO member States in coming to the assistance of Denmark if the United States uses force against Greenland?
An examination of Article 5 of the Alliance and decision-making process.
By @mikeschmitt.bsky.social
January 13, 2026 at 4:13 PM
This is an interesting analysis of how treaty commitments would shape NATO member states’ responses to a US attack on Denmark. I wonder about the likelihood of a different scenario - not an attack but a declared fait accompli - and what the response of Denmark’s allies would be in practice.
Link here to a commentary I wrote recently on this topic, which I think provides some useful context for how the UK cyber strategy has evolved and why a more implementation-focused approach is a good idea in principle. bsky.app/profile/joed...
Nothing says Christmas week like sitting down to read about the ghosts of cybersecurity strategies past, present, and yet to come. With thanks to @lawfaremedia.org for publishing.
The U.K. is expected to announce its new cybersecurity strategy before the end of the year. @joedevanny.bsky.social takes stock of previous efforts to improve cybersecurity and assesses the largest cyber challenges facing the U.K. government. lawfaremedia.org/article/the-u.k.-s-cybersecurity-refresh
January 6, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Link here to a commentary I wrote recently on this topic, which I think provides some useful context for how the UK cyber strategy has evolved and why a more implementation-focused approach is a good idea in principle. bsky.app/profile/joed...
This is a good report on the latest details about the emerging UK government cyber security refresh, with good expert comments too. The language is positive, but I think Jamie sounds the right note of scepticism in his quoted remarks.
In an unusually candid admission, the British government acknowledged that its years-long approach to its own cybersecurity was flawed and warned it will be impossible to meet a previous target of securing all government organizations from known cyber vulnerabilities and attack methods by 2030.
UK government admits years of cyber policy have failed, announces reset
The current system of accountability has left much of the British government vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a new Government Cyber Action Plan, with responsibilities for risk “unclear at all...
therecord.media
January 6, 2026 at 8:25 PM
This is a good report on the latest details about the emerging UK government cyber security refresh, with good expert comments too. The language is positive, but I think Jamie sounds the right note of scepticism in his quoted remarks.
Nothing says Christmas week like sitting down to read about the ghosts of cybersecurity strategies past, present, and yet to come. With thanks to @lawfaremedia.org for publishing.
The U.K. is expected to announce its new cybersecurity strategy before the end of the year. @joedevanny.bsky.social takes stock of previous efforts to improve cybersecurity and assesses the largest cyber challenges facing the U.K. government. lawfaremedia.org/article/the-u.k.-s-cybersecurity-refresh
The U.K.’s Cybersecurity Refresh
The country’s anticipated cyber strategy will need to sharpen its focus while better implementing its provisions.
lawfaremedia.org
December 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Nothing says Christmas week like sitting down to read about the ghosts of cybersecurity strategies past, present, and yet to come. With thanks to @lawfaremedia.org for publishing.