United Kingdom

Militarisation in the UK generally

'Militarisation' means the ways in which the presence and approaches of the military (typically state armed forces and Defence Ministries) are normalised in a society. Military solutions are prioritised, and the military is privileged in various ways.

A society has to be militarised for a government to justify the development and maintenance of nuclear weapons to its citizens; militarisation creates a culture of acceptance. It popularises military euphemisms such as 'Defence', 'Security', and – particularly relevant to nuclear weapons – 'deterrant', and makes it hard to for those challenging these to be seen as credible.

The past few years have seen a change in the UK climate movement. Though all signs point towards an exciting resurgence of direct action on climate, until a few months ago there was a distinct lull in radical grass- roots action on climate change, dating back to the failed COP15 climate talks in Copenhagen (December 2009), where the movement's biggest mobilisation ended in disappointment and despair.

Olympic sponsor's military construction threatens 'Peace Island'

A demonstration on Saturday 9 June outside the Samsung Store on Tottenham Court Road called for a boycott of Samsung products. Samsung is the main building contractor of the controversial $970 million naval base on Jeju Island, South Korea. Officially designated 'The Island of World Peace', Jeju is home to several UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage sites, and promoted by the South Korean government as 'one of the seven wonders of the world'. The people of Gangjeong village, where construction threatens their way of life, farms and coastline, are mounting a non-violent resitance that's gaining international attention. Samsung and the Korean navy continue to enforce the project despite 94% opposition among the village electorate. Over 500 protestors have been arrested since construction started, many imprisoned, including the village mayor.

The UK armed forces visit thousands of schools each year. They offer school presentation teams, ‘careers advisors’, lessons plans, away days and more.

Three women painted the windows of the Army recruiting office in Glasgow yesterday, 1st March, in protest at the dishonest propaganda used to persuade young people to join up.

DSEi, the world's biggest arms fair, opens in east London on September 13, 2011. But arms fairs don't organise themselves - a lot of work goes into inviting the right mix of despots and dealers. So who makes DSEi happen?

British conscientious objector Michael Lyons was court-martialed on 4 and 5 July, on charges of "disobeying a lawful order". Michael Lyons joined the Royal Navy as a medic in 2005, and applied for discharge as a conscientious objector in summer 2010. Although his Commanding Officer supported his CO application, it was rejected higher up in September 2010. Almost immediately, Michael Lyons appealed to the Advisory Committee on Conscientious Objection (ACCO), which heard his appeal in December 2010, and recommended to Minister of Defence Liam Fox to reject Michael Lyons' appeal.

WRI's British section, the Peace Pledge Union, reported in the latest issue of its magazine Peace Matters on the case of an unemployed who was forced by the Job Centre to take a job at the Military Preparation College in Bangor outside of which he organised a (unconnected) protest a few weeks before. The job is to get young people of 14-19 to join the military.

• David Gee

In 2009 the Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition was due to hold its bi-annual arms selling jamboree in East London, opening with a conference at the Queen Elizabeth Conference centre in central London.

In the UK, the arms trade is in the spotlight. As revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East challenge authoritarian regimes, they also challenge the UK government's approach to arms sales.

Frank Slijper

After the bloody suppression of protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989, the European Union (and the US) ordered an arms embargo that applies until today. From a human rights perspective this is fully justified: the situation remains appalling and attempts at democratic reforms are nipped in the bud. At the same time the embargo is also clearly politically motivated, to keep China as small as possible in military terms. While the economic relationship with China has grown, military co-operation rightly remains a thorny issue. Despite cracks in the embargo it won't be off the table any time soon. Yet it is a question how long the blockade will be maintained with China strengthening its power base.