Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

We're writing  this as the Russian military launches its invasion of Ukraine, our  thoughts are with the people of Ukraine in these dark hours and all  those affected by this war. As we await news on the response of Western  governments, somehow our monthly theme of 'defence engagement' or 'the means by which the UK uses defence assets and activities short  of combat operations to achieve influence' seems more relevant than  ever.  Do check out our blogpost from Sorina Toltica reflecting on 'wars  at a distance'.

It is our continued aim into 2022 to continue to collaborate through increased engagement between our network and the research, practice and policy communities and we are delighted to share with you some of those we have been  connecting with later in the newsletter. We know that one of the  challenges for early career researchers is getting a sense of the  organisations and networks out there. So we have been working hard to  reach out to diverse and useful organisation, to share with you what  they do and how they could help with your research and work. We hope  we've found some you are interested in following up with. We are very  open to hearing from other networks and organisations - formal and  informal - who would like to connect with us or work with us so do get  in touch.

We are on the look out for new committee members to  join our friendly bunch and, in particular, to help us with the  newsletter and website. Check out the section below for more information  about what we are looking for and how to get in touch.

We have been thrilled with how many of you have been in touch to share  news with us of your books and publications and are delighted to include  these all in the newsletter. We would love to hear from more of you so  do get in touch by email or on Twitter to let us know what you are up to  so we can share it in our next newsletter.

Hannah West and Jemma Humphries
Co-Chairs of the Defence Research Network

See the full newsletter here: Defence Engagement

Visit the Newsletter Catalogue to catch up on all our past issues!