Publications

Westbrook's publications bring together our independent research on defence, security, and geopolitics, position papers, briefings, and longer-form analysis, each produced to reach a clear, well-supported conclusion rather than simply restate the existing debate. Every publication is independent of government, political party, and any single funding source, and is intended for direct use by policymakers, journalists, and anyone engaged in the public debate on these issues. Browse our latest work below, or filter by area to find research relevant to a specific interest.

Ukraine - Russia War: Monthly Geopolitical Briefing | September 2026

Something odd happened in September. American envoys sat down with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, then travelled by train to Kyiv for their first visit since the invasion began. Diplomacy restarted after six months of silence. And over the same four weeks, the two sides exchanged the heaviest long-range strikes of the entire war. Those two facts sit uncomfortably together, and understanding why is the point of the briefing we're publishing today. What we're doing From this mo

The £4.7 billion the Budget has to find: Funding the Defence Investment Plan at Budget 2026

On 30 June the government published the Defence Investment Plan, committing £298 billion to defence over the four years to 2029/30. Buried in the accompanying funding document is an admission that has attracted almost no attention: £4.7 billion of it has not been funded, and the money will have to be found at the Budget on 28 October. That sentence is the government's own. It is not an external estimate or a critic's inference. The plan sets out how £10.3 billion of its addit