Why Boris Johnson must support continued criminal investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Syria

The recent video showing a young Syrian boy rescued from rubble after airstrikes in Aleppo has again highlighted the scale of violence in the Syrian civil war. Here, Brett Edwards and Mattia Cacciatori outline the current state of affairs regarding chemical weapons attacks in the country, and the best way that UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson can support the legal and criminal investigations into these attacks

Submission of Evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee Inquiry on Tech and the future of UK Foreign Policy

In this submission we: 1) Introduce the contested concept of global technology assessment, as an increasingly important area of global policy relevant to UK interests. We argue that it would serve the UK’s current and longer-term foreign policy interests to more systematically monitor a) developments in science and technology b) evolving norms and practices in emerging technology governance globally; and to c) formulate clearer guiding principles on the UK’s foreign policy in this area. 2) Argue that there is a need for a new focal point for a UK global technology assessment strategy. We highlight the need for a co-ordinating institution – which could play a pivotal role in linking up capacities domestically in the area of innovation strategy and governance, with the UK’s foreign policy agenda. This body could i) systematically track developments of relevance to UK foreign policy ii) support the development and evolution of a more explicit and consolidated policy on the issue of global technology assessment

Why stopping acid attacks is a matter of chemical weapons control

The use of acid as part of violent crime is apparently on the rise in the UK, and various efforts are being made to reverse what’s become a very disturbing trend