Recommended Topics
Proposed Chapter Contributions:
Part I: Conceptualising the SSDEC Sector
Chapter 1: Introduction: The Case for a Combined SSDEC Sector
This opening editorial chapter will set out the business case for recognising Safety, Security, Defence, Emergency Preparedness and Crisis Management as a combined SSDEC sector. While this chapter will be led by the editor, contributions or perspectives may be sought that help demonstrate why contemporary risks no longer fit neatly within single institutional domains. Relevant contributions may address pandemics, cyberattacks, terrorism, climate emergencies, infrastructure failures, mass gatherings, hybrid threats, organised crime, geopolitical instability or major public safety incidents. The chapter will argue that traditional siloed approaches can create duplication, fragmented planning, inconsistent training, weak information-sharing, inefficient resource use and delayed crisis response.
Chapter 2: Defining the SSDEC Sector: Scope, Components and Institutional Boundaries
This chapter is seeking contributions that help define the SSDEC sector as an integrated professional, policy and operational domain. Contributions may examine how safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management should be understood individually and collectively, what each component contributes, and which organisations and professional communities sit within or adjacent to the sector. The chapter is particularly interested in work that maps the institutional boundaries of SSDEC, distinguishes between core and enabling actors, and explains how these domains interact in practice.
Chapter 3: Theoretical Foundations of the SSDEC Sector
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the theoretical foundations that can support SSDEC as an academic and professional field. Contributions may engage with resilience theory, risk governance, systems thinking, complexity theory, securitisation theory, organisational learning, high-reliability organisations, crisis leadership or related theoretical perspectives. The aim is to develop a stronger conceptual base for understanding SSDEC as more than a practical grouping of agencies, and instead as a coherent interdisciplinary field concerned with risk, resilience, preparedness and public protection.
Chapter 4: Setting Strategic Objectives for the SSDEC Sector
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine what strategic objectives should be, and how these can be set across the SSDEC sector to align safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management around shared national and institutional priorities. Contributions may explore how governments, agencies and sector leaders identify priority risks, define desired outcomes, allocate responsibility and translate strategic intent into operational capability. Work may also consider how SSDEC objectives can be linked to risk assessment, horizon scanning, capability planning, performance measurement, interagency governance and post-incident learning.
Part II: Core Domains of SSDEC
Chapter 5: Safer Communities
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the safety dimension of SSDEC, particularly in relation to safer communities, public protection, harm prevention, safeguarding, community resilience, road safety, environmental safety and the reduction of everyday risks that affect public wellbeing. Contributions may consider how safety operates as the preventative foundation of the SSDEC sector by reducing vulnerability, strengthening community preparedness and addressing risks before they escalate into wider security, emergency or crisis-management challenges.
Chapter 6: Security, Policing and Intelligence
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the security dimension of SSDEC, with particular emphasis on policing, intelligence, counterterrorism, border security, cybercrime, organised crime and intelligence-led approaches to public protection. Contributions may also consider how criminal, national security and public safety threats increasingly overlap, and how security agencies can work more effectively with wider SSDEC partners to prevent harm, manage risk and respond to complex threats.
Chapter 7: Defence and the Civil-Military Interface
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the role of defence organisations in supporting national resilience, domestic crisis response, humanitarian assistance, disaster response, hybrid threat preparedness and civil-military cooperation. Contributions may consider how defence capabilities can support civilian authorities during large-scale emergencies, how military and civilian agencies coordinate in crisis contexts, and how defence readiness contributes to the broader SSDEC ecosystem.
Chapter 8: Emergency Preparedness
This chapter is seeking contributions that focus on emergency preparedness, including emergency planning, disaster risk reduction, civil defence, incident command, contingency planning, preparedness exercises and emergency response systems. Contributions may explore how preparedness acts as the bridge between routine safety management and major crisis response, and how organisations can strengthen readiness through planning, training, exercising, evaluation and interagency coordination.
Chapter 9: Crisis Management
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine how organisations and governments make decisions during complex, fast-moving and uncertain crises. Contributions may address crisis leadership, command structures, strategic communication, escalation, coordination, decision-making under uncertainty, public confidence and post-crisis learning. The chapter is particularly interested in contributions that examine how crisis management operates across multiple agencies, sectors and levels of government.
Part III: Cross-Cutting Challenges in SSDEC
Chapter 10: Technology, AI and Digital Transformation in the SSDEC Sector
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine how emerging technologies are reshaping SSDEC practice. Contributions may cover artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, digital twins, virtual reality, simulation, autonomous systems, surveillance technologies, cyber-physical systems and the governance of digital transformation. The chapter is particularly interested in work that considers both the opportunities and risks of technology adoption across safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management.
Chapter 11: Training and Professional Education for SSDEC
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine how SSDEC professionals are trained and educated. Contributions may consider scenario-based learning, virtual reality, command simulations, table-top exercises, competency-based education, professional accreditation and the development of cross-sector leadership capability. The chapter is especially interested in approaches that prepare practitioners to operate across organisational boundaries and within complex multi-agency environments.
Chapter 12: Ethics, Legitimacy and Human Rights in SSDEC
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the ethical and legal challenges that arise when SSDEC organisations exercise coercive, emergency or exceptional powers. Contributions may address surveillance, emergency powers, use of force, restrictions on liberty, data governance, human rights, public trust, accountability and legitimacy. The chapter aims to explore how SSDEC organisations can maintain public confidence while operating in high-risk, high-pressure and legally complex environments.
Chapter 13: Interoperability and Multi-Agency Coordination
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine how different SSDEC agencies coordinate across professional, organisational and jurisdictional boundaries. Contributions may consider police-fire-ambulance coordination, military-civilian cooperation, emergency operations centres, information-sharing, joint doctrine, common operating pictures and multi-agency command structures. The chapter is particularly interested in practical, theoretical and empirical work on how interoperability can be improved before, during and after major incidents.
Chapter 14: Organisational Resilience and Workforce Wellbeing
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the human and organisational cost of SSDEC work. Contributions may address trauma, burnout, moral injury, organisational stress, fatigue, workforce preparedness, leadership, mental health support, organisational learning and the challenge of sustaining operational capability during prolonged crises. The chapter is particularly interested in work that connects workforce wellbeing to resilience, preparedness, performance and long-term institutional effectiveness.
Part IV: Applied SSDEC Case Studies
Chapter 15: The UAE as an Integrated SSDEC Model: Strategic Governance, Innovation and National Resilience
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the UAE as a national example of SSDEC integration. Contributions may explore how safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management are connected through national resilience governance, policing innovation, civil defence, emergency management, border security, technology adoption, smart cities, major event planning and professional education. Contributions may also consider Rabdan Academy’s role in supporting SSDEC education, research and capability development.
Chapter 16: COVID-19 and Whole-of-Society Crisis Management: Lessons for the SSDEC Sector
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine COVID-19 as a prolonged whole-of-society crisis. Contributions may consider how the pandemic required coordination across public health, policing, border control, emergency powers, logistics, public communication, misinformation management, military support, digital tools, community safety and national resilience. The chapter is particularly interested in work that draws lessons for future SSDEC preparedness, governance and crisis response.
Chapter 17: Hajj as a Model of Mass Gathering Safety, Security and Crisis Management
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine Hajj, or other cultural or religious events, as complex recurring mass gatherings with unique risks and threats. Contributions may focus on crowd safety, public order, policing, civil defence, emergency medicine, public health, heat risk, transport, multilingual communication, surveillance, real-time monitoring and crisis preparedness at scale. The chapter aims to explore how Hajj demonstrates planned SSDEC mobilisation across multiple agencies, risks and operational domains.
Chapter 18: The 2026 Strait of Hormuz Crisis: Maritime Security, Regional Resilience and SSDEC Coordination
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the 2026 Strait of Hormuz crisis as a contemporary SSDEC stress-test. Contributions may focus on maritime security, energy resilience, regional defence posture, commercial shipping protection, critical infrastructure, economic disruption, supply-chain risk, diplomatic crisis management, public communication and Gulf-region emergency preparedness. Given the contemporary nature of the case, contributions should frame the crisis as an emerging analytical case rather than a settled historical account.
Part V: The Future of SSDEC
Chapter 19: Research and Innovation
This chapter is seeking contributions that consider the future research and innovation agenda for the SSDEC sector. Contributions may examine key research gaps and explore how safety, security, defence, emergency preparedness and crisis management organisations can work collaboratively to build stronger evidence, improve practice and prepare for emerging challenges. Relevant topics may include cross-sector research partnerships, shared data, applied evaluation, simulation, technological innovation and international collaboration to support better decision-making, capability development, training, interoperability and resilience.
Chapter 20: Future Threats and Strategic Uncertainty
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine the changing threat landscape facing the SSDEC sector. Contributions may address geopolitical instability, increased nationalism, reduced global cooperation, misinformation, economic instability and critical infrastructure vulnerability. The chapter is particularly interested in work that considers how these risks increasingly overlap and compound one another, requiring more anticipatory, integrated and adaptive approaches to preparedness, prevention, response and recovery.
Chapter 21: Climate Change, Environmental Risk and Resilience
This chapter is seeking contributions that examine climate change as a major long-term challenge for the SSDEC sector. Contributions may consider implications for public safety, national security, emergency preparedness, defence planning, infrastructure protection, migration, health, food and water security, and crisis management. The chapter is particularly interested in work that explores how extreme weather, resource pressures, environmental degradation and climate-related disasters will require closer integration between emergency services, security agencies, defence organisations, public authorities, scientists, infrastructure providers and communities.