Britain In The World

A Policy Exchange Project
Commonwealth flag

Commonwealth Summit – A new opportunity for an old institution?

Does the presence of an Indian Prime Minister after several years of absence, Brexit and a return to great power politics offer a new role for the Commonwealth?
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NATO

The collective action to Russia was in part a result of the UK’s firm unilateral response

Policy Exchange's Professor John Bew, whose essay on the Skripal affair was discussed on the Today programme, argues that the UK's initial response to Russian aggression paved the way to wider, collective action.
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The signing of the North Atlantic Treaty

An American perspective on Pesco: The dangers of de-linking EU defence from NATO

US Army officer T.S. Allen discusses the launch of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (Pesco) at last month’s European Council summit. While there may be benefits in terms of improvements in capabilities, there is a danger that Pesco represents a trend towards de-linking European defence from NATO in search of EU 'strategic autonomy’.
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Washington Conference

The new US National Security Strategy: implications for UK National Security Policy

Reviewing Lt Gen McMaster’s keynote speech at Policy Exchange’s Anglo-American conference, Professor John Bew highlights how the new American National Security Strategy will refocus on ‘competitive engagement’, providing support for friendly countries on America’s security frontier while requesting greater ‘reciprocity’ from US allies. Professor Bew also suggests how this should be interpreted by the UK’s ongoing Capability Review.
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Ireland and Northern Ireland map

Perspectives on the Irish Border and Brexit negotiations

Two of Policy Exchange’s leading experts on Irish Affairs, former Irish diplomat Ray Bassett and former Special Adviser to the First Minister of Northern Ireland Dr Graham Gudgin, evaluate the Stage 1 Brexit Agreement published last week. Although welcome progress has been made, key issues remain outstanding and have the capacity to present difficultly if not resolved.
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HMS Queen Elizabeth

Beware excessive “declinism” – we’re putting more money into UK defence but American warnings must also be heeded

Policy Exchange’s Gabriel Elefteriu warns that we should beware the declinist narrative that too often pervades discussion of UK defence capability. He cautions this can too often verge on a self-fulfilling prophesy and we should acknowledge that the Government is now increasing defence spending. Equally, it is important that American warnings are headed, particularly on the retention of specific capabilities.
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NATO

The return of the internationalists? Unpacking Labour’s position on foreign policy.

Last week, Chuka Umunna spoke to Chatham House in a much-needed intervention on the state of British foreign policy. In recent years, the British foreign policy debate has not kept up with the pace of global political and economic change. For that reason alone, there was much to commend in Umunna’s sense of urgency. To adapt to the challenges of the twenty-first century, as he put it, “we need to look ahead and develop a proper national strategy on the basis of a clear understanding of what our interests are”.
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DExEU’s paper on post-Brexit UK-EU security and defence cooperation: a question of influence

National Security Fellow Gabriel Elefteriu responds to the launch of the Government’s new paper on UK-EU security and defence cooperation after Brexit. The paper is a welcome starting point in efforts to improve the “mood music”, given recent acrimony in Brexit negotiations. It is right to stress areas of common interest with the EU27 and the UK’s vital role in European security, which is likely to continue for many years. However, there are still questions to answer about the proposed “deep and special relationship” with the EU, and how this is to be squared with renewed efforts to reinvigorate the NATO alliance.
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After the North Korean crisis

Britain in the World Research Fellow Gabriel Elefteriu discusses further implications of the North Korea crisis, noting that there is “no historical precedent for the present crisis, and attempting to apply ‘lessons’ from the past is extremely dangerous in these circumstances.” War “could be catastrophic in material and geopolitical terms, with incalculable evolutions and consequences” but the crisis is likely to force the US to devote even more resources to the Pacific, with consequences for its strategic posture in other parts of the world.
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The EU is becoming less hospitable for Ireland – it’s time it joined Britain in leaving

Ray Bassett – Policy Exchange’s Senior Fellow on EU Affairs – argues that the economic interests of Ireland are more closely aligned with the UK than the EU. As such Ireland should consider leaving the EU too.
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Latest Publications

In Defence of Collective Security

In Defence of Collective Security

By - Mar 19, 2018

As Putin celebrates another election victory, today’s Labour party should remember that there can be no coherent response to the Russian provocation without an appreciation of how our collective security is underscored by NATO and the role Labour played in its creation. In a new essay, In Defence of Collective Security, Professor John Bew, Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project and an award winning biographer of Clement Attlee, argues that our current system of Western security, based on NATO, was painstakingly put in place by Attlee and Ernest Bevin and that the current Labour leadership betrays that legacy.

Beyond Brexit: Essential reading on international affairs and security in a changing world

Beyond Brexit: Essential reading on international affairs and security in a changing world

By , , and - Feb 5, 2018

Policy Exchange is delighted to announce that Professor John Bew, Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World Project, has been appointed as a specialist adviser to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s inquiry into ‘Global Britain’. To mark that appointment, we publish a new reading list, Beyond Brexit: Essential reading on international affairs and security in a changing world, compiled by Professor Bew, Gabriel Elefteriu, Jamie Gaskarth and Patrick Porter.

Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure

Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure

By - Dec 1, 2017

We must do more to protect the indispensable yet insecure internet infrastructure provided by undersea cables, urges Rishi Sunak MP in a new report published by Policy Exchange, Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure. 97% of global communications and $10 trillion in daily financial transactions are transmitted not by satellites in the skies, but by cables lying deep beneath the ocean. Undersea cables are the indispensable infrastructure of our time, essential to our modern life and digital economy, yet they are inadequately protected and highly vulnerable to attack at sea and on land, from both hostile states and terrorists.

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Latest Blogs

An American perspective on Pesco: The dangers of de-linking EU defence from NATO

An American perspective on Pesco: The dangers of de-linking EU defence from NATO

By - Jan 7, 2018

US Army officer T.S. Allen discusses the launch of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (Pesco) at last month’s European Council summit. While there may be benefits in terms of improvements in capabilities, there is a danger that Pesco represents a trend towards de-linking European defence from NATO in search of EU ‘strategic autonomy’.

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Latest News

Policy Exchange experts dominate MPs’ reading list

Policy Exchange experts dominate MPs’ reading list

By and - Apr 18, 2018

Two of Policy Exchange’s experts are among the most read authors in Parliament, a new Freedom of Information request has revealed. Road to Somewhere, by Policy Exchange’s Head of Demography, Immigration and Integration David Goodhart (longlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize) was the second most borrowed book in the House of Commons, behind only ‘How Parliament Works’. The Head of our Britain in the World Project Professor John Bew’s Orwell Prize-winning Citizen Clem was also one of the most borrowed books in the House of Commons in 2017. Both books were named last year by the Observer among their 100 best political books.

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Latest Events

Geopolitics in the 21st Century

Geopolitics in the 21st Century

April 25, 2017

Policy Exchange was privileged to host Robert D Kaplan, one of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about global affairs, for a discussion on geopolitics and America’s changing role in the world. His remarks will build on insights from his latest book,Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America’s Role in the World – which has been called a “masterpiece” by General David Petraeus

After Iraq: When to go to war?

After Iraq: When to go to war?

Jan 31, 2017

This lecture by Professor Nigel Biggar was delivered at Policy Exchange on 31 January 2017, with a Vote of Thanks by Lt Gen Mark Carleton-Smith CBE, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Military Strategy and Operations), on behalf of the Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach GBE KCB

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