Timothy Edmunds
Biographic Data
| ID | 386869 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Timothy Edmunds |
| GIVEN NAMES | Timothy |
| FAMILY NAME | Edmunds |
| SIGNATURE | EDMUNDS T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6755-628X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 154 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
UNCLOS under Fire: Recalibrating Maritime Security Governance
Maritime security challenges are intensifying globally, from armed attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to critical infrastructure sabotage and environmental threats from shadow fleets. These developments have led some to question whether the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains ‘fit for purpose’. This article reframes that debate, suggesting that maritime security operates through a complex assemblage of institutions an…
Pragmatic ordering: Informality, experimentation, and the maritime security agenda
The question of when and how international orders change remains a pertinent issue of International Relations theory. This article develops the model of pragmatic ordering to conceptualise change. The model of pragmatic ordering synthesises recent theoretical arguments for a focus on ordering advanced in-practice theory, pragmatist philosophy, and related approaches. It also integrates evidence from recent global governance research. We propose a…
Militarization, stigma, and resistance: Negotiating Military Reservist Identity in the Civilian Workplace
Set against the backdrop of the British Government’s Future Reserves 2020 (FR2020) programme, this article addresses military reservists’ experiences of how they are perceived by civilian colleagues in the workplace. Drawing on qualitative interviews with reservists, it analyses their understandings of civilian co-workers’ qualified and sometimes reluctant acceptance in light of FR2020’s implicit aim to use reservists to help realign civil–milita…
Blue crime: Conceptualising transnational organised crime at sea
Transnational organised crime at sea is a growing international concern. However, and despite its importance, the concept remains uncertain and contested. This ambiguity has led to a tendency to focus on individual challenges such as piracy or illegal fishing, rather than convergencies and synergies between and across issues, and has stymied a concerted international policy response. Debate continues over the term itself, what illicit activities …
Into the sea: Capacity-building innovations and the maritime security challenge
Maritime security capacity-building is a growing field of international activity. It is an area that requires further study, as a field in its own right, but also as an archetype to develop insights for capacity-building and security sector reform in other arenas. This article is one of the first to analyse this field of activity. Our empirical focus is on the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. Here, international actors have launched multiple ca…
The possibilities and limits of impact and engagement in research on military institutions
Military geographical research often requires direct engagement with military institutions. Although the morality of such engagements is often debated, the details of engagement in practice have been less scrutinised. Scrutiny is important, as military engagements can shape research‐derived critiques and can influence the communication of research outcomes to both military and academic research communities. Military engagement comprises the commu…
Constructing the capable state: Contested discourses and practices in EU capacity building
Capacity building has risen to prominence in the vocabulary of the international community as a way to promote security and development in fragile and post-conflict environments. Capacity building seeks to promote a bottom-up approach drawing on and strengthening existing local capacities. This article argues that capacity building can be understood as part of a broader governmentality that seeks to determine from the outside what constitutes a ‘…
Maritime security: The Uncharted Politics of the Global Sea
In this introduction to a special section of the September 2019 issue of International Affairs, we revisit the main themes and arguments of our article 'Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies', published in this journal in November 2017. We reiterate our call for more scholarly attention to be paid to the maritime environment in international relations and security studies. We argue that the contemporary maritime security…
Security sector reform in transforming societies: Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro
1. Introduction: security sector reform in transforming societies Part I: security sector reform 2. Security sector reform: a framework for analysis Part II: the political level 3. Security sector reform at the political level: Croatia 4. Security sector reform at the political level: Serbia-Montenegro Part III: the organisational level 5. Security sector reform at the organisational level: Croatia 6. Security sector reform at the organisational …
EU local capacity building: Ownership, complexity and agency
Capacity building has become a key focus area in EU peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Yet, despite considerable efforts, EU capacity building activities have struggled to deliver on their objectives. While such programmes have sometimes been able to strengthen pockets of capacity in specific organizations, they have had less success in building capacity in the round and in a sustainable manner. Drawing on empirical evidence from EU capacity …
Beyond seablindness: A New Agenda for Maritime Security Studies
This article examines the rise of maritime security in concept and practice. We argue that developments in the maritime arena have flown beneath the radar of much mainstream international relations and security studies scholarship, and that a new agenda for maritime security studies is required. In this article we outline the contours of such an agenda, with the intention of providing orientation and direction for future research. Our discussion …
Reserve forces and the transformation of British military organisation: Soldiers, citizens and society
In recent years there has been a sharp growth in political and sociological interest in the British military. Set against the backdrop of the armed forces increasing presence in everyday life, alongside the organizations’ ongoing restructuring, the current paper focuses on the MoD’s problematic attempts to recruit 30,000 Reservists by 2020; what has become known as the Future Reserves 2020 programme (FR2020). We argue that these changes are drive…
British foreign policy and the national interest
Journal Article British foreign policy and the national interest Get access TIMOTHY EDMUNDS, TIMOTHY EDMUNDS 1Professor of International Security and Director of the Global Insecurities Centre at the University of Bristol Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar JAMIE GASKARTH, JAMIE GASKARTH 2Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in International Relations in the School of Government, Plymouth University Search fo…
Complexity, strategy and the national interest
British strategy-making has been subject to a sustained critique in recent years, from parliamentarians, retired members of the armed forces and scholars of strategic studies. This article examines the nature of this critique and the evolving character of strategic practice in Britain. It argues that the criticisms of British strategymaking are often misplaced, for two main reasons. First, many base their critique on a reductionist notion of unit…
British civil-military relations and the problem of risk
Drawing primarily on the experience of the UK since 2001, this article examines the increasing prevalence of risk as an organizing concept for western defence and security planning and its implications for civil—military relations and strategy-making. It argues that there may be tensions between such approaches and the principles of good strategy-making, which aim to link means and resources to ends in a coherent manner. Not only does risk potent…
The defence dilemma in Britain
The UK faces a pressing defence dilemma. The declaratory goals of defence policy are struggling to match the demands made by operational commitments and the financial and organizational capacities. The article examines how and why this situation has come about. While recognizing that existing calls for higher defence spending, reform of the Ministry of Defence, efficiency gains or a renewal of the so-called military covenant between the military …
Illiberal Resilience in Serbia
Since 2000, overt resistance to democratization in Serbia has been rare. However, illiberal actors and networks have persisted within the formal framework of democracy itself; coopting formal institutions to their own particularist interests and adapting to the constraints and opportunities of electoral competition. Though rooted in domestic political culture, this process can only be understood as part of a dynamic interaction with international…
Intelligence agencies and democratisation: Continuity and change in Serbia after Milošević
This article examines the reform of the Serbian intelligence agencies since the fall of Slobodan Milošević and argues that they are important actors in democratisation, with a powerful capacity to influence and frustrate the reform process. However, the Serbian experience demonstrates that the role of intelligence agencies in democratisation is complex. In Serbia, governance of the intelligence sector has been characterised neither by a simple ma…
What are armed forces for? The changing nature of military roles in Europe
European armed forces are currently undergoing a profound series of shifts in relation to their core roles. These changes are increasingly challenging long-held assumptions about what armed forces are for and how they should be structured and organized. This article argues that these changes have not primarily occurred in response to an objective, functional reassessment of the nature of the threat, as is assumed in much of the civil—military rel…
A Turning Point in Yugoslavia's Civil-Military Relations
A turning point in Yugoslavia's civil‐military relations
(2003). A turning point in Yugoslavia's civil‐military relations? Defence Studies: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 108-113
Nato and its new members
NATO has had a major impact on defence reform in ten post-communist states that have either joined or been invited to join the Alliance. Through its own preconditionality and the motivating influence of membership, through technical advice and assistance and through propagating and spreading norms of behaviour, NATO has encouraged accession candidates to consolidate their arrangements for the democratic, civilian control of armed forces and helpe…
Perspective
The Second Generation Problematic: Rethinking Democracy and Civil-Military Relations
This article argues that a decade after the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe, the establishment of democratic civil-military relations has moved on from first generation issues of institutional restructuring to second generation challenges relating to the democratic consolidation of these relationships. In practice, these have more to do with issues of state capacity-building and bureaucratic modernization with the traditional …
Power and powerlessness in Kazakstani society: Ethnic problems in perspective
(1998). Power and powerlessness in Kazakstani society: Ethnic problems in perspective. Central Asian Survey: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 463-470
The Second Generation Problematic: Rethinking Democracy and Civil-Military Relations
This article argues that a decade after the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe, the establishment of democratic civil-military relations has moved on from first generation issues of institutional restructuring to second generation challenges relating to the democratic consolidation of these relationships. In practice, these have more to do with issues of state capacity-building and bureaucratic modernization with the traditional …
Constructing the capable state: Contested discourses and practices in EU capacity building
Capacity building has risen to prominence in the vocabulary of the international community as a way to promote security and development in fragile and post-conflict environments. Capacity building seeks to promote a bottom-up approach drawing on and strengthening existing local capacities. This article argues that capacity building can be understood as part of a broader governmentality that seeks to determine from the outside what constitutes a ‘…
What are armed forces for? The changing nature of military roles in Europe
European armed forces are currently undergoing a profound series of shifts in relation to their core roles. These changes are increasingly challenging long-held assumptions about what armed forces are for and how they should be structured and organized. This article argues that these changes have not primarily occurred in response to an objective, functional reassessment of the nature of the threat, as is assumed in much of the civil—military rel…
Reserve forces and the transformation of British military organisation: Soldiers, citizens and society
In recent years there has been a sharp growth in political and sociological interest in the British military. Set against the backdrop of the armed forces increasing presence in everyday life, alongside the organizations’ ongoing restructuring, the current paper focuses on the MoD’s problematic attempts to recruit 30,000 Reservists by 2020; what has become known as the Future Reserves 2020 programme (FR2020). We argue that these changes are drive…
Beyond seablindness: A New Agenda for Maritime Security Studies
This article examines the rise of maritime security in concept and practice. We argue that developments in the maritime arena have flown beneath the radar of much mainstream international relations and security studies scholarship, and that a new agenda for maritime security studies is required. In this article we outline the contours of such an agenda, with the intention of providing orientation and direction for future research. Our discussion …
Militarization, stigma, and resistance: Negotiating Military Reservist Identity in the Civilian Workplace
Set against the backdrop of the British Government’s Future Reserves 2020 (FR2020) programme, this article addresses military reservists’ experiences of how they are perceived by civilian colleagues in the workplace. Drawing on qualitative interviews with reservists, it analyses their understandings of civilian co-workers’ qualified and sometimes reluctant acceptance in light of FR2020’s implicit aim to use reservists to help realign civil–milita…
The possibilities and limits of impact and engagement in research on military institutions
Military geographical research often requires direct engagement with military institutions. Although the morality of such engagements is often debated, the details of engagement in practice have been less scrutinised. Scrutiny is important, as military engagements can shape research‐derived critiques and can influence the communication of research outcomes to both military and academic research communities. Military engagement comprises the commu…
British foreign policy and the national interest
Journal Article British foreign policy and the national interest Get access TIMOTHY EDMUNDS, TIMOTHY EDMUNDS 1Professor of International Security and Director of the Global Insecurities Centre at the University of Bristol Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar JAMIE GASKARTH, JAMIE GASKARTH 2Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in International Relations in the School of Government, Plymouth University Search fo…
Illiberal Resilience in Serbia
Since 2000, overt resistance to democratization in Serbia has been rare. However, illiberal actors and networks have persisted within the formal framework of democracy itself; coopting formal institutions to their own particularist interests and adapting to the constraints and opportunities of electoral competition. Though rooted in domestic political culture, this process can only be understood as part of a dynamic interaction with international…
Pragmatic ordering: Informality, experimentation, and the maritime security agenda
The question of when and how international orders change remains a pertinent issue of International Relations theory. This article develops the model of pragmatic ordering to conceptualise change. The model of pragmatic ordering synthesises recent theoretical arguments for a focus on ordering advanced in-practice theory, pragmatist philosophy, and related approaches. It also integrates evidence from recent global governance research. We propose a…
Intelligence agencies and democratisation: Continuity and change in Serbia after Milošević
This article examines the reform of the Serbian intelligence agencies since the fall of Slobodan Milošević and argues that they are important actors in democratisation, with a powerful capacity to influence and frustrate the reform process. However, the Serbian experience demonstrates that the role of intelligence agencies in democratisation is complex. In Serbia, governance of the intelligence sector has been characterised neither by a simple ma…
Into the sea: Capacity-building innovations and the maritime security challenge
Maritime security capacity-building is a growing field of international activity. It is an area that requires further study, as a field in its own right, but also as an archetype to develop insights for capacity-building and security sector reform in other arenas. This article is one of the first to analyse this field of activity. Our empirical focus is on the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. Here, international actors have launched multiple ca…
Maritime security: The Uncharted Politics of the Global Sea
In this introduction to a special section of the September 2019 issue of International Affairs, we revisit the main themes and arguments of our article 'Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies', published in this journal in November 2017. We reiterate our call for more scholarly attention to be paid to the maritime environment in international relations and security studies. We argue that the contemporary maritime security…
EU local capacity building: Ownership, complexity and agency
Capacity building has become a key focus area in EU peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Yet, despite considerable efforts, EU capacity building activities have struggled to deliver on their objectives. While such programmes have sometimes been able to strengthen pockets of capacity in specific organizations, they have had less success in building capacity in the round and in a sustainable manner. Drawing on empirical evidence from EU capacity …
British civil-military relations and the problem of risk
Drawing primarily on the experience of the UK since 2001, this article examines the increasing prevalence of risk as an organizing concept for western defence and security planning and its implications for civil—military relations and strategy-making. It argues that there may be tensions between such approaches and the principles of good strategy-making, which aim to link means and resources to ends in a coherent manner. Not only does risk potent…
The defence dilemma in Britain
The UK faces a pressing defence dilemma. The declaratory goals of defence policy are struggling to match the demands made by operational commitments and the financial and organizational capacities. The article examines how and why this situation has come about. While recognizing that existing calls for higher defence spending, reform of the Ministry of Defence, efficiency gains or a renewal of the so-called military covenant between the military …
Complexity, strategy and the national interest
British strategy-making has been subject to a sustained critique in recent years, from parliamentarians, retired members of the armed forces and scholars of strategic studies. This article examines the nature of this critique and the evolving character of strategic practice in Britain. It argues that the criticisms of British strategymaking are often misplaced, for two main reasons. First, many base their critique on a reductionist notion of unit…
Perspective
Power and powerlessness in Kazakstani society: Ethnic problems in perspective
(1998). Power and powerlessness in Kazakstani society: Ethnic problems in perspective. Central Asian Survey: Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 463-470
The Second Generation Problematic: Rethinking Democracy and Civil-Military Relations
This article argues that a decade after the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe, the establishment of democratic civil-military relations has moved on from first generation issues of institutional restructuring to second generation challenges relating to the democratic consolidation of these relationships. In practice, these have more to do with issues of state capacity-building and bureaucratic modernization with the traditional …
A Turning Point in Yugoslavia's Civil-Military Relations
A turning point in Yugoslavia's civil‐military relations
(2003). A turning point in Yugoslavia's civil‐military relations? Defence Studies: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 108-113
Nato and its new members
NATO has had a major impact on defence reform in ten post-communist states that have either joined or been invited to join the Alliance. Through its own preconditionality and the motivating influence of membership, through technical advice and assistance and through propagating and spreading norms of behaviour, NATO has encouraged accession candidates to consolidate their arrangements for the democratic, civilian control of armed forces and helpe…
Perspective
What are armed forces for? The changing nature of military roles in Europe
European armed forces are currently undergoing a profound series of shifts in relation to their core roles. These changes are increasingly challenging long-held assumptions about what armed forces are for and how they should be structured and organized. This article argues that these changes have not primarily occurred in response to an objective, functional reassessment of the nature of the threat, as is assumed in much of the civil—military rel…
Intelligence agencies and democratisation: Continuity and change in Serbia after Milošević
This article examines the reform of the Serbian intelligence agencies since the fall of Slobodan Milošević and argues that they are important actors in democratisation, with a powerful capacity to influence and frustrate the reform process. However, the Serbian experience demonstrates that the role of intelligence agencies in democratisation is complex. In Serbia, governance of the intelligence sector has been characterised neither by a simple ma…
Illiberal Resilience in Serbia
Since 2000, overt resistance to democratization in Serbia has been rare. However, illiberal actors and networks have persisted within the formal framework of democracy itself; coopting formal institutions to their own particularist interests and adapting to the constraints and opportunities of electoral competition. Though rooted in domestic political culture, this process can only be understood as part of a dynamic interaction with international…
The defence dilemma in Britain
The UK faces a pressing defence dilemma. The declaratory goals of defence policy are struggling to match the demands made by operational commitments and the financial and organizational capacities. The article examines how and why this situation has come about. While recognizing that existing calls for higher defence spending, reform of the Ministry of Defence, efficiency gains or a renewal of the so-called military covenant between the military …
British civil-military relations and the problem of risk
Drawing primarily on the experience of the UK since 2001, this article examines the increasing prevalence of risk as an organizing concept for western defence and security planning and its implications for civil—military relations and strategy-making. It argues that there may be tensions between such approaches and the principles of good strategy-making, which aim to link means and resources to ends in a coherent manner. Not only does risk potent…
British foreign policy and the national interest
Journal Article British foreign policy and the national interest Get access TIMOTHY EDMUNDS, TIMOTHY EDMUNDS 1Professor of International Security and Director of the Global Insecurities Centre at the University of Bristol Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar JAMIE GASKARTH, JAMIE GASKARTH 2Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) in International Relations in the School of Government, Plymouth University Search fo…
Complexity, strategy and the national interest
British strategy-making has been subject to a sustained critique in recent years, from parliamentarians, retired members of the armed forces and scholars of strategic studies. This article examines the nature of this critique and the evolving character of strategic practice in Britain. It argues that the criticisms of British strategymaking are often misplaced, for two main reasons. First, many base their critique on a reductionist notion of unit…
Reserve forces and the transformation of British military organisation: Soldiers, citizens and society
In recent years there has been a sharp growth in political and sociological interest in the British military. Set against the backdrop of the armed forces increasing presence in everyday life, alongside the organizations’ ongoing restructuring, the current paper focuses on the MoD’s problematic attempts to recruit 30,000 Reservists by 2020; what has become known as the Future Reserves 2020 programme (FR2020). We argue that these changes are drive…
Beyond seablindness: A New Agenda for Maritime Security Studies
This article examines the rise of maritime security in concept and practice. We argue that developments in the maritime arena have flown beneath the radar of much mainstream international relations and security studies scholarship, and that a new agenda for maritime security studies is required. In this article we outline the contours of such an agenda, with the intention of providing orientation and direction for future research. Our discussion …
Security sector reform in transforming societies: Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro
1. Introduction: security sector reform in transforming societies Part I: security sector reform 2. Security sector reform: a framework for analysis Part II: the political level 3. Security sector reform at the political level: Croatia 4. Security sector reform at the political level: Serbia-Montenegro Part III: the organisational level 5. Security sector reform at the organisational level: Croatia 6. Security sector reform at the organisational …
EU local capacity building: Ownership, complexity and agency
Capacity building has become a key focus area in EU peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Yet, despite considerable efforts, EU capacity building activities have struggled to deliver on their objectives. While such programmes have sometimes been able to strengthen pockets of capacity in specific organizations, they have had less success in building capacity in the round and in a sustainable manner. Drawing on empirical evidence from EU capacity …
Constructing the capable state: Contested discourses and practices in EU capacity building
Capacity building has risen to prominence in the vocabulary of the international community as a way to promote security and development in fragile and post-conflict environments. Capacity building seeks to promote a bottom-up approach drawing on and strengthening existing local capacities. This article argues that capacity building can be understood as part of a broader governmentality that seeks to determine from the outside what constitutes a ‘…
Maritime security: The Uncharted Politics of the Global Sea
In this introduction to a special section of the September 2019 issue of International Affairs, we revisit the main themes and arguments of our article 'Beyond seablindness: a new agenda for maritime security studies', published in this journal in November 2017. We reiterate our call for more scholarly attention to be paid to the maritime environment in international relations and security studies. We argue that the contemporary maritime security…
Blue crime: Conceptualising transnational organised crime at sea
Transnational organised crime at sea is a growing international concern. However, and despite its importance, the concept remains uncertain and contested. This ambiguity has led to a tendency to focus on individual challenges such as piracy or illegal fishing, rather than convergencies and synergies between and across issues, and has stymied a concerted international policy response. Debate continues over the term itself, what illicit activities …
Into the sea: Capacity-building innovations and the maritime security challenge
Maritime security capacity-building is a growing field of international activity. It is an area that requires further study, as a field in its own right, but also as an archetype to develop insights for capacity-building and security sector reform in other arenas. This article is one of the first to analyse this field of activity. Our empirical focus is on the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. Here, international actors have launched multiple ca…
The possibilities and limits of impact and engagement in research on military institutions
Military geographical research often requires direct engagement with military institutions. Although the morality of such engagements is often debated, the details of engagement in practice have been less scrutinised. Scrutiny is important, as military engagements can shape research‐derived critiques and can influence the communication of research outcomes to both military and academic research communities. Military engagement comprises the commu…
Pragmatic ordering: Informality, experimentation, and the maritime security agenda
The question of when and how international orders change remains a pertinent issue of International Relations theory. This article develops the model of pragmatic ordering to conceptualise change. The model of pragmatic ordering synthesises recent theoretical arguments for a focus on ordering advanced in-practice theory, pragmatist philosophy, and related approaches. It also integrates evidence from recent global governance research. We propose a…
Militarization, stigma, and resistance: Negotiating Military Reservist Identity in the Civilian Workplace
Set against the backdrop of the British Government’s Future Reserves 2020 (FR2020) programme, this article addresses military reservists’ experiences of how they are perceived by civilian colleagues in the workplace. Drawing on qualitative interviews with reservists, it analyses their understandings of civilian co-workers’ qualified and sometimes reluctant acceptance in light of FR2020’s implicit aim to use reservists to help realign civil–milita…
UNCLOS under Fire: Recalibrating Maritime Security Governance
Maritime security challenges are intensifying globally, from armed attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to critical infrastructure sabotage and environmental threats from shadow fleets. These developments have led some to question whether the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains ‘fit for purpose’. This article reframes that debate, suggesting that maritime security operates through a complex assemblage of institutions an…
Political science (23 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Law (18 works) · Politics (16 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Peacebuilding and International Security (9 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies (6 works)