In our first Author Spotlight of 2026, we are pleased to present Dr. Simon Bennett, whose recent publication, The Russia–Ukraine War – Security Lessons (Peter Lang, 2025), has attracted significant attention in the media and press. Dr. Bennett is a prolific scholar and commentator and has written extensively on the Russia–Ukraine war for a wide range of academic and professional publications. 

Dr. Bennett is the Series Editor of Systems Thinking for Safety. The series draws on the success of systems-thinking approaches to safety management in commercial and military aviation, with a view to improving safety performance across other complex socio-technical systems, including healthcare, nuclear power generation, chemical production, oil and gas extraction, deep mining, and sea and rail transportation. The series is intended for practitioners, academics, and students alike. 

Dr. Bennett’s research interests focus on the organisational, social, economic, and political origins of risk. He has worked closely with the National Police Air Service and the Royal Air Force and currently directs the Civil Safety and Security Unit at the University of Leicester, England. 

His recent publications include Atomic Blackmail? The Weaponisation of Nuclear Facilities During the Russia–Ukraine War (Libri, 2023) andCorruption and the Management of Public Safety (Routledge, 2024), alongside earlier works such as How Pilots Live (Peter Lang, 2014), Aviation Safety and Security: The Importance of Teamwork, Leadership, Creative Thinking and Active Learning (Libri, 2015), and Innovative Thinking in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management (Routledge, 2012). 

An aviation human-factors specialist, Dr. Bennett has accumulated approximately 1,500 hours of jump-seat observation and 200 hours on the ramp. His observational experience spans multiple aircraft types, including the Airbus A319, A320, A321, A300, and the Boeing 737 and 757. He has also observed police helicopter operations and undertaken extensive safety and emergency procedures training across several aircraft platforms. In addition, he has trained flight crew in fatigue-risk management and supported a Boeing 757 Line Operations Safety Audit. 

The Russia-Ukraine War – Security Lessons 

An analysis informed by sociological approaches to risk management

“As the Russia-Ukraine War sees its fourth year, this book provides a timely analysis of the successes and failures of Ukraine’s campaign to expel Russian forces from sovereign Ukrainian territory. Lessons are drawn using sociological approaches to risk management such as systems-thinking, organising for high-reliability, latent and active error, mindfulness, groupthink, strategic empathy, passive and active learning, single and double-loop learning, isomorphic learning and active foresight.”

‘The Russia-Ukraine War – Security Lessons’ in Recent News

Dr Bennett has been quoted and featured in multiple recent articles, with a selection featured below:

• Will Anyone Prove Trump Wrong And Counter His Steamroller Moves?
  Written by Kate Nicholson 
  HuffPost UK Politics, 9 January 2026

‘Similarly, the University of Leicester’s director of the civil safety and security unit Dr Simon Bennett told HuffPost UK: “Since the 1776 Revolution the US has railed against European colonialism. This is pure hypocrisy. 
“The US has been, and is, every bit as colonialist as Europe’s Ancien Régime. Perhaps more so under its current crypto-fascist regime.” 
He added: “As Europe’s imperial power has waned, that of the United States has grown, under Trump’s Caesar-like behaviour exponentially and unchecked.”’

• What Could Next Year Look Like For The Ukraine War?
  Written by Kate Nicholson
  HuffPost UK Politics, 12 December 2025

‘Director of the Civil Safety and Security Unit at the University of Leicester, Dr Simon Bennett, also told HuffPost UK that Trump’s sympathies lie with Putin not Zelenskyy, because he is an “admirer of authoritarian leaders”.’

• ‘‘Lamb To Slaughter’ Trump Envoy Heads To Russia For Peace Talks
  Written by Kate Nicholson 
  HuffPost UK Politics, 2 December 2025

‘Dr Simon Bennett, the director of the civil safety and security unit at the University of Leicester, told HuffPost UK that Putin will “exploit a stupefied Witkoff”. 
He said: “The Americans seem determined to once again sideline Europe by sending Steve Witkoff – a man eminently unsuited to international diplomacy – to talk to the Moscow warmonger. 
“Witkoff’s ignorance of international politics and diplomacy renders him highly vulnerable to manipulation by Putin. A lamb to the slaughter.”’

• Trump’s Ukraine Deal: Experts Unpick President’s Potential Motive
  Written by Kate Nicholson 
  HuffPost UK Politics, 11 November 2025

‘Dr Simon Bennett, director of the civil safety and security unit at Leicester University, said: “As far as Ukraine is concerned, the plan is a non-starter. Ukraine will never surrender that portion of the Donbas still under its control.”‘

Articles by Dr. Bennett

In addition, Dr. Bennett has also authored several published articles as seen below:

• Russia-Ukraine War: Global Economic Security Implications
  The World Financial Review, 11 January 2026

‘The Second World War confirmed the Twentieth Century as The American Century. Like the Second World War, the Russia-Ukraine war is restructuring the world economic system.

• Learning Lessons 
  Kyiv Post, 3 September 2025

‘The war in Ukraine is not just a regional conflict – it’s a warning. The lessons it offers, if understood and acted upon, could be the difference between a secure West and a wider European or even global war.’

• If you want peace, prepare for war 
  Continuity Insurance and Risk, 2025

‘In my book I talk about the importance of actioning lessons learned, that is, of active learning. Churchill understood the importance of active learning. “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it” he warned. If we want peace we must prepare for war. That is the realpolitik of today’s dangerous world.’

• The West and Ukraine. A loss of nerve?
  UK in a Changing Europe, 17 November 2025

‘In my 2025 book The Russia-Ukraine War – Security Lessons I note how the West failed to provide Ukraine sufficient matériel and training to ensure the success of its 2023 counteroffensive.’

Dr. Bennett’s scholarship and public commentary offer a compelling perspective on the Russia–Ukraine war and the wider security lessons it holds for an increasingly uncertain world. We look forward to seeing future publications that continue to share these learnings and offer thoughtful insight from Dr. Bennett.