Journalism, as The Observer’s David Astor said, is too important to be left to journalists. In that spirit, we’re inviting others to get involved. Each week in The Observatory, we’ll ask leaders from business, politics, technology and culture (listed below) to share their views on a timely topic. We’ll present a mix of responses to challenge assumptions and show where experienced voices agree – and where they don’t. This week: war and peace.
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Q1.
“Europe needs to step up as a leader in a world where the values of freedom, dignity and justice for all are being challenged. There is no other natural defender of these norms.”
“We are critically dependent on the US and must double down on this partnership.”
“Let’s start with energy sovereignty – renewables don’t need to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.”
“The US has reminded us all of an uncomfortable truth – that we have been free-riding on them for 50 years.”
“Any country without the military means to defend itself against plausible enemies is not a country but a protectorate.”
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Q2.
Answer: we are definitely not at peace.
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Q3. If the answer to Q1 is yes, what should the first step be?
“Conscription now has to be considered.”
“Mark Carney’s Canada provides a useful example: diversify defence procurement so that we are less dependent on American suppliers, while simultaneously investing in domestic and allied defence industries.”
“The first step is making the case to the UK public that security in the 21st century matters.”
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Q4. In 2025, a group of more than 100 Labour MPs and peers urged banks, investors and pension funds to treat weapons manufacturers as “ethical” investments so that more money would flow to the industry to arm Ukraine and the UK. If you were asked to endorse such a position today, would you?
“Fundamentally, it is pretty much economic/political theory 101 that the military is the No 1 thing you should NOT rely on private markets to fund.”
“No weapons are easily ‘ethical’. They are, however, easily ‘necessary’.”
“It is nearly impossible to view war, and thus weapons manufacturing, as ‘ethical’. As Ernest Hemingway said: ‘Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.’”
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Contributors
Neil Lawrence professor of Computer Science, University of Cambridge; Charles Palmer global head of TMT, FTI Consulting; Andrew Blair partner, Brown Advisory; William Pollen founder, Pollemics Ltd; Stephen Barrie deputy chief responsible investment officer, Church of England; Catherine Dolton chief sustainability officer, SVP; Jason Blank CEO, Fora; Peter Denton MBE; Vishal Kapoor CCO, Chia; Muniya Barua deputy CEO, BusinessLDN; Ann Cairns chair, Financial Alliance for Women; Nigel Toon CEO, Graphcore; Moni Mannings OBE, FTSE 100 non-executive director; James Cameron chair, Oxford Sustainable Finance Group; Rona Fairhead chair, RS Group; Carolyn Fairbairn NED; Hunter Philbrick partner, Hellman & Friedman; Beth Blood CEO, On the Edge; John Holland-Kaye chair, Sizewell C; Gina Neff Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy; William Roberts Society Speaks; Jade McGlynn Russian politics, information warfare
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