Research degrees in this area of interest provide opportunities to study with leading academics and practitioners who are specialists in strategy and security, based in our Strategy and Security Institute. Academics in the Institute carry out research, consultancy and teaching in the fields of global security and strategy, particularly relating to how individuals and organisations deal with conflict under intense pressure. The SSI is at the forefront of research into the drivers of strategic decision-making by civilian and military leaders, and planners in the foreign and defence policy domains. The contemporary international security environment presents a paradox. On the one hand, the global security situation, at least for developed states, remains far more benign than the tense nuclear stand-off of the Cold War. On the other hand, the third post-Cold-War decade has brought with it a less benign strategic outlook, at least for Western states, than the two that preceded it. SSI academics are in the vanguard of this research agenda, seeking to understand the causes, consequences, and mitigation of many of today's most serious security problems. Exeter works closely with the military legal community to investigate the evolution of the legal framework of warfare and the impact of law and legal processes on security policy and military operations. The decision to use organised violence in pursuit of strategic goals is not just a matter of political will and equipment; it is also governed by a system of social norms and processes, including a complex body of domestic and international law. While the growing impact of legal rules and processes promises to strengthen the rule of law at the international level, it also imposes operational burdens and strategic costs on the use of force. The extent to which these developments undermine operational effectiveness and constrain national security choices has become a question of immense significance.