Charlie Edwards
Senior Researcher
Charlie Edwards writes, lectures and consults on national security, resilience, defence and intelligence. He works with international institutions, government departments, companies, and NGOs. He is a regular commentator in the national and international media.
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Community Risk Register
I don't think I have ever seen my local risk register that all local resilience forums have a duty to publish. I assumed that it would be a booklet outlining risks - a slim volume that is for public consumption. Far from it. This is 167 pages of methodology, explanation, and detail on risks. Below is the blurb for the community risk register for Cambridgeshire & Peterborough.
continue reading on 12th June 2008 in Resilient Nation - What is resilience? A video from America... nice sense of what citizens think. Make me think we should also do something like this for the project on Resilience Nation. Watch it here continue reading on 12th June 2008 in Resilient Nation
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NetHope
The ability to communicate in an emergency is obviously key - see the BBC Connecting for Crisis site for how information on crises are communicated across the network's media platforms. Just spotted this -
Microsoft is just one company that donates cash and resources to emergencies. NetHope and ECB are used to improve the use of information and communications technology to facilitate communication and collaboration and to increase capacity and overall efficiency in disaster response. continue reading on 12th June 2008 in Resilient Nation - Stories on Hurricane Katrina Useful site for stories on Hurricane Katrina continue reading on 12th June 2008 in Resilient Nation
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Citizenship in Emergency
I used this paragraph in National Security for the Twenty-first century:
When the plane that hit the Pentagon and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania are looked at side by side, they reveal two different conceptions of national defense: one model is authoritarian, centralized, top down; the other, operating in a civil frame, is distributed and egalitarian. Should anything be inferred from the fact that the first form of defense failed and the second succeeded? This outcome obligates us to review our military structures, and to consider the possibility that we need a democratic, not a top-down, form of defense. At the very least, the events of September 11 cast doubt on a key argument that, for the past fifty years, has been used to legitimize an increasingly centralized, authoritarian model of defense—namely the argument from speed. continue reading on 12th June 2008 in Resilient Nation - Social Resilience Interesting article on the relationship of social and ecological resilience. Neil Adger suggests that here is a clear link between social and ecological resilience, particularly for social groups or communities that are dependent on ecological and environmental resources for their livelihoods. continue reading on 9th June 2008 in Resilient Nation
- Foxes, hedgehogs and 42 days Yesterday on PolitcsHome Andrew Rawnsley suggested that the Government had now offered enough compromises over its contentious anti-terror legislation to get it through the Commons. This was the verdict, he said, of Britain's most authoritative survey of inside and expert political opinion. This seemed to fit with many reports on and off the record that the Home Secretary’s speech to the Labour PLP had hit the spot and convinced some MPs to back the Bill. But I still think don’t think we should believe the current hype over 42 days for two reasons. continue reading on 5th June 2008
- Radical measures Jamie and I have a piece on Comment is free on the Government's new new-ish radicalisation strategy. You can read it here. continue reading on 3rd June 2008
- Demos 3.0 We're in the midst of upgrading our IT systems... this shouldn't take too long but it will mean our emails are out of action for some of today. But we're a resilient bunch at 136 so pick up a phone and you'll find us on the other end of the line (that's if you call 0207 367 4200). If it's a media enquiry get in touch with Will on 0207 367 6325 continue reading on 28th April 2008
- Stop press: 'The public love the armed forces' Back in September the Chief of the Army called for greater support of the British Armed forces. He said there was a social gulf between the army (which has borne the brunt of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) and British society. Soon Ministers began to raise the issue of public support for the armed forces, and media campaigns were ratcheted up... but this hyper-activity was based on a single major flaw - the widely held but utterly false assumption that there was a lack of public support for the armed forces to begin with. continue reading on 24th April 2008 Comments (1)