British Defence Policy & Military Operations

The British Defence Policy and Military Operations Group (BDPMOG) was established in 2004 although its foundations were laid three years earlier with the British Military Doctrine Group, which was set up in 2001 under a two-year ESRC research seminar series grant to share academic and military thinking on the role, use and character of doctrine. Since then, the group has critically examined and contributed to the formulation and implementation of defence policy through engagement with a variety of audiences, it has organized several conferences and members have actively disseminated their research findings in a variety of formats including articles in policy relevant and scholarly journals, books, reports for government and conference papers. The group has conducted a number of recent studies including a project for the Ministry of Defence and US Office of Force Transformation. BDPMOG organised a conference in 2006 on Issues in Contemporary Counter-Insurgency, sponsored by the ESRC New Security Challenges Programme and the British Academy and which gave rise to a special edition of Contemporary Security Policy. Another study resulted in a special edition of Defense and Security Analysis examining the mythologies of British COIN. Other work has focused on contracturization, the role of private security companies and joint operations. The leader of BDPMOG is Dr Andrew Dorman.