Survival (journal)

Survival (journal)
Title	Survival
Discipline	International relations, security studies
Abbreviation	Survival
Publisher	International Institute for Strategic Studies
Country	United Kingdom
Frequency	Bimonthly
History	1959–present
Issn	0039-6338

Contents

Survival (journal)

Survival is a bimonthly peer-reviewed journal published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies that covers international security, strategic studies, and statecraft. Founded in 1959 during the Cold War era, it has published contributions from figures associated with NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the United Nations, and scholars tied to Harvard University, Princeton University, and the London School of Economics. The journal is read by policymakers at institutions such as the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), the Department of Defense (United States), and analysts at think tanks including the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Royal United Services Institute.

History

The journal was established in 1959 amid debates following the Suez Crisis and the consolidation of postwar arrangements like the North Atlantic Treaty and the formation of institutions such as the European Economic Community and the Organization of American States. Early contributors included figures connected to the Kennedy administration, veterans of the Cold War, and analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency and the Foreign Office (United Kingdom). Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Survival published essays addressing crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, the Yom Kippur War, and detente episodes culminating in the Helsinki Accords. In the 1990s the journal shifted attention to conflicts after the collapse of the Soviet Union and interventions like those in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and debates over the North Atlantic Treaty Organization expansion. More recent decades have seen analyses of the Global War on Terrorism, the rise of the People's Republic of China, the Arab Spring, and great-power competition involving the Russian Federation.

Survival publishes articles on statecraft, strategic doctrine, arms control, intelligence, insurgency, nuclear strategy, and alliance management with case studies from theaters including Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and the South China Sea. It features contributions ranging from former officials associated with the Pentagon, the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), and the European Commission to academics from Oxford University, Cambridge University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago. The journal regularly covers conceptual debates tied to policymakers who served in administrations such as those of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Barack Obama, and Vladimir Putin, and institutions like the International Atomic Energy Agency and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It also examines security dynamics involving actors including Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and state actors such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

The editorial board has historically included scholars affiliated with King's College London, the Australian National University, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, alongside former diplomats and defense officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the U.S. Department of State. The editor-in-chief has been drawn from senior fellows at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and guest editors from institutions like the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Chatham House. Survival appears bimonthly and accepts submissions through peer-review processes used by journals such as those of Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press; it issues special symposia and commissioned essays that reflect debates in venues such as the Munich Security Conference and at policy fora like the World Economic Forum.

Survival is abstracted and indexed in databases and services commonly used in international affairs and strategic studies, alongside indexing practices employed by the Web of Science and Scopus. It is included in bibliographic aggregations accessed by libraries at institutions like Columbia University, Brown University, and the London School of Economics and is cited in policy briefings from the International Crisis Group and reports by the United Nations Security Council and the International Court of Justice.

The journal has influenced debates on nuclear deterrence, alliance cohesion, and intervention policy, with influence cited in scholarly works published by Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press and in policy deliberations at Downing Street and the White House. Articles from the journal have been discussed in media outlets such as the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the Washington Post and used as background in testimony before bodies like the United States Senate Armed Services Committee and the House Armed Services Committee. Survival's readership includes members of parliaments and legislatures in states such as France, Germany, Japan, and India.

Notable articles and symposia have engaged with topics such as nuclear strategy debates post-Hiroshima, counterinsurgency lessons from Iraq War (2003–2011), and analyses of the Ukraine crisis and the Crimea annexation by the Russian Federation. Special issues have focused on themes tied to the Asia-Pacific strategic balance, transatlantic relations during the tenure of leaders like Angela Merkel and Donald Trump, and technology-driven change involving actors such as Huawei and debates over cybersecurity in forums like the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Authors have included former ministers, ambassadors accredited to the United Nations, senior military officers from the United States Navy and the Royal Navy, and academics whose books appear with publishers including Princeton University Press.

Category:International relations journals Category:Publications established in 1959