Huw Bennett
@bennetthuw.bsky.social
Professor of International Relations, writing on British defence since 1945. In south Wales, an archive or a military museum. Permanently grateful to archivists and librarians.
Had some wonderful news yesterday - the WW1 Historical Association awarded Framing the First World War the Norman B. Tomlinson Prize for 2025! Very grateful to our wonderful contributors and their hard work, series editor Bill Allison and the team at @univpressofkansas.bsky.social -
Glad someone senior from the sector is pushing back. Labour MPs need to understand the serious real anger from graduates and the people who produce them. And the dangerous financial situation they have allowed to fester, or indeed worsened, in one of Britain’s leading sectors.
Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head says
LSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic student fees freeze, international student limits and rise in employers’ national insurance
ft.com
Now open at IWM London, our brand new exhibition "Childhood in War." My colleagues have done an amazing job, and you may well start noticing some of this great marketing out and about. It's an important exhibition, it's powerful - and it's free. Do visit if and when you get the chance
I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10
Last week, about a third of the History department were able to gather together on graduation day. Rather than lend our intellectual authority to the official procession and ceremony we invited our students to come and celebrate their achievements with us in a shady courtyard. They came. 1/
It is raining in Wales. Thank God normality has returned.
For the fist time in 20 years of making Freedom of Information Act requests, I have been accused of making a vexatious request. The Ministry of Defence thinks asking for a 36-year old report on lessons from the Gulf War is vexatious. The culture of knee-jerk secrecy is beyond a joke.
Planning for SHoW 2026 is well underway! We’re busy putting together what is promising to be an excellent programme & are looking forward to welcoming old and new faces to the University of Limerick in November!
📈EU defence spending reached €418 billion in 2025 – 20% more than the year before. The increase reflects EU countries’ efforts to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. See more below via the European Defence Agency. New data drop here: eda.europa.eu/publications...
We have to find new things to say about British defence. “There is a gap between resources and commitments!” So what? There almost always has been, and the evidence suggests politicians simply don’t care.
Even if the U.K. government funded defence at 3.5% of GDP - which it can’t and won’t - leadership in European security has already been lost to Germany, Ukraine and Poland. Time to accept the reality.
Will Reynolds@anglo-japan45.bsky.social · 3w agoSlightly behind the curve due to teaching, but @ukandeu.bsky.social recently allowed me to mull over some thoughts on the DIP and its second order effects on the UK's position within NATO. @dsdkings.bsky.social @warstudieskcl.bsky.social ukandeu.ac.uk/policy-versu...
We have the following 3 calls for research funding for RHS Fellows & Members: bit.ly/4wwSMGu > 'Open Research Grants', for mid & later career historians > 'Early Career Fellowship Grants', for postdocs > Martin Lynn Scholarship', for PhD research in African history Closing 4 September #Skystorians
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: September 2026 deadlines - RHS
The Society invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates of 4 September 2026. Early Career Fellowship Grants, 2026-27* off...
bit.ly
EThOS platform restored! 'Following restoration work, all metadata records previously available on EThOS have now been restored, along with an additional 14,000 records added since the service was taken offline' - more to come https://www.bl.uk/stories/news/ethos-records-restored
EThOS records restored
We are pleased to share that EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is now available again following restoration work after the cyber-attack.
bl.uk
President Trump: Would you go to Moscow? President Zelenskyy: It's difficult. There are a lot of Ukrainian drones there. It's dangerous.
A handful of universities are determined to destroy all the others. It's that simple. That would end the Burnham regionalism agenda before it'd even got going. Unfortunately, no-one even seems to know this and our governance structures are so pitifully weak there's not even anyone to tell.
Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 4w agoConcentrating research in fewer UK universities splits vice-chancellors. Birmingham leader’s call to focus on 20-30 institutions amid surging applications contested by fellow VCs. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
In terms of numbers, the UK’s once vaunted status as the top defence spender in Europe has gone. By 2030, Germany plans to spend €188 billion – 3.7 per cent of GDP – twice the UK's £79 billion defence budget.
Will NATO be convinced by the UK Defence Investment Plan?
A tortuous process has produced a plan that does not set a clear path towards meeting the UK’s defence expenditure targets. But it includes many elements which will make the UK a more attractive colla...
chathamhouse.org
U.K. government policy is to deliberately shrink the university sector. Let’s see how that plays out for them in the general election.
Times Higher Education (THE)@timeshighered.bsky.social · last mo.The Department for Education has confirmed that universities will receive £50.9 million less in teaching grants next academic year. Bridget Phillipson, the education minister has defended the reduction in light of tuition fee rises. https://ow.ly/6UWJ50ZkLlf
Reupping thoughts on Starmer’s Party and its failures to think about British defence policy. Will Burnham’s Party be any different ? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Labour claims to be defending Britain from new threats, but its warfare state is steeped in old thinking | David Edgerton
For every sensible proposal, there’s a failure to think through the UK’s place in the world – and a promised ‘defence dividend’ that won’t materialise, says academic and author David Edgerton
theguardian.com
To solve the Defence Investment Plan shortfall, the U.K. should invest in HMRC. Or perhaps sell the two pointless aircraft carriers?
Dan Neidle@danneidle.bsky.social · last mo.What if Andy Burnham could raise £15bn – without a tax rise? There's one catch. He'd need to solve the UK’s biggest and least-discussed tax problem. Almost half of all small business corporation tax isn't being paid - and nobody knows why. Thread:
For today’s British defence policy the differences to the 1930s matter more than the similarities. The U.K. is a nuclear power; Germany and Poland are rearming on a large scale. Ukraine is turning the tide of the war. There is no threat justification for a massive U.K. expansion in land forces.
Philip Stephens@philipstephens.bsky.social · last mo.Britain's defence plan carried uncomfortable echoes from the 1930s. My thoughts in the FT www.ft.com/content/3716...
I know I'm a cracked record on this topic, but I still find it frustrating that the DIP (and the subsequent debate) is all about inputs. Having read it, I can't find anything that says what, once all the new kit etc is in place, we expect the armed forces will be able to deliver in terms of... 1/4
All this talk of reorganising Whitehall reminds me of comment of head of corporate restructuring at one of big consultancies…core of his business came from new CEOs who did not know what to do ….when in doubt reorganise the corporate furniture ….
⏳ There’s only a few weeks left to submit your proposal for #SHoW2026 in Limerick 🇮🇪 Haven’t submitted yet? There’s still time! We can’t wait to see the exciting work being done across the histories of war, conflict, and violence. Questions about the CFP? DM us!
