Website of the UK government

The strategy sets out how the UK has learned the lessons of recent years, including experiences of terrorism and civil emergencies, but also overseas. Rwanda, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur, Burma and Kenya all show the need for the international community to be united and act decisively, but also to plan for the longer term, including supporting failing states and stabilising areas recovering from conflict, and tackling violent extremism.

In his statement to Parliament the Prime Minister said: “As the national security strategy makes clear, new threats demand new approaches. A radically updated and much more coordinated response is now required.

“We need to mobilise all the resources available to us: the power of our military, police and security services; the persuasive force and reach of diplomacy; the authority of strengthened global institutions which, with our full support, can deploy both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power; and because arms and authority will never be enough, the power of ideas, of shared values and hopes that can win over hearts and minds.”

The strategy sets out an intention to:

• reform and strengthen NATO, EU, and the UN, for example working to make the UN Security Council more representative to give greater legitimacy to decisive international action
• offer a 'new bargain' to non-nuclear powers, discusings a new system to help non-nuclear states safely acquire the new sources of energy they need
• build bilateral and multilateral cooperation on terrorism, for example with a new agreement signed with the UAE on freezing terrorist assets.

As well as recognising that the challenges are increasingly global and demand global solutions, the Strategy recognises that the roots of problems are often local, as are the effects, and sets out:

• a new civil protection network, replacing the old idea of civil defence, building and strengthening local capacity to respond to a range of circumstances from floods to terrorism
• a new national risk register, publishing information previously held privately within Government, so the public can see at first hand the risks we face
• an update on the work to help local communities resist violent extremism.

The Strategy sets out how the government will build a more hard-headed, long-term, integrated approach:

• it reinforces the cross-government counter-terrorist effort, including expanding the inter-departmental Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, and work to strengthen protection at our borders and for crowded places
• it confirms the shift in Foreign Office focus from Europe to key regions, for example the Middle East, with embassies which used to do mainly consular work now doing political engagement and security support, for example in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh
• it reinforces the long-term focus on underlying drivers of insecurity: tackling the violent extremism which drives terrorism; conflict mediation; post-conflict stabilisation; and the effects on security of the long-term challenges of climate change and global poverty
• it recognises that government can't meet all these new challenges by itself, and commits to stronger partnerships
• it commits to greater transparency and accountability with an enhanced scrutiny and public role for the Intelligence and Security Committee, including the first public hearings

Further information

The strategy is available on the Cabinet Office website.

• National Security Strategy Opens new window