Defence readiness, civil preparedness and national resilience
Overview
As the world becomes more dangerous and contested, both the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the National Security Strategy (NSS) call for a ‘whole of society’ approach to defence and security, including wider societal participation in achieving national resilience. This approach, often referred to as ‘Total Defence’, is not a new concept. It has its roots in the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century and has been the organising principle of national security for several countries, particularly in Scandinavia, since the beginning of the Cold War.
A whole of society approach transcends the traditional view that the armed forces are the primary means for deterring and/or responding to threats and challenges to the UK’s national security. It envisages defence and security as a collective national endeavour that brings together and utilises the resources and capabilities of not just the military but also wider government, industry, civil society and the population at large.
Several programmes of work are already underway in government to meet this challenge and legislation on defence readiness is expected later in this Parliament. A review of the Civil Contingencies Act is also due in 2027. The SDR and NSS also called for a “national conversation” to raise public awareness of the threats to the UK, to reconnect the armed forces with society and to increase understanding of the role that society has to play in national resilience and mobilisation in the event of crisis or war.