Britain In The World
A Policy Exchange Project
Latest Publications
Foreign Policy and National Security in the New Parliament
In a new report published last week, Policy Exchange stresses the vital role of Parliament in shaping debates about Britain’s place in the world, and urges the building of greater cross-party consensus on foreign policy. It stresses the role of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the context of a hung Parliament. The report was published alongside a new database of MPs’ voting records on key issues of national security since 2010, as well as their constituency positions on Brexit — the most detailed resource of its kind ever created. In a Foreword to the report, Tom Tugendhat MP, the new Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee said, ‘Policy Exchange is at the forefront of new thinking about national security and the UK’s place in the world’. The report was covered in The Daily Mail.
UK Strategy in Asia: some starting principles
Following the Prime Minister’s visit to Japan last week, Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World Project publish a report by unit head John Bew and David Martin Jones, Visiting Fellow at Policy Exchange. They advise that Asia is of growing strategic importance to the UK’s long-term prosperity but this is likely to mean more involvement in the region’s security problems. The first principle of UK involvement in Asia must be to bolster existing alliances and to preserve the existing international order, but it must be understood that this is likely to cause tension when it comes to relations with China.
After Brexit: Will Ireland be next to exit?
In a flagship new report for Policy Exchange, former senior Irish Ambassador Ray Bassett argues that a failure to reach a benign compromise between the EU and the UK in Brexit negotiations risks seriously damaging the Irish economy. So far, the Irish Government has sided firmly with the EU27, but Bassett believes this may be a mistake given how intimately the Irish and British economies are connected. In the event of the UK leaving the Customs Union and the Single Market, Ireland may be forced to follow suit, potentially even seeking its own “Irexit”.
Latest Blogs
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.
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.
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.
Latest News
Policy Exchange’s John Bew wins 2017 Elizabeth Longford Prize
Policy Exchange is delighted to congratulate Professor John Bew, Head of our Britain in the World project, as his outstanding biography of Clement Attlee won the 2017 Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography.
Policy Exchange’s John Bew wins Orwell Prize
Policy Exchange is delighted to congratulate Professor John Bew, Head of our Britain in the World project, after his outstanding biography of Clement Attlee last night won the prestigious Orwell Prize.
Policy Exchange’s Director Dean Godson on BBC’s Daily Politics
Policy Exchange’s Director Dean Godson appeared on the BBC’s Daily Politics program on 25th May. He discussed the extremism prevention policies put forward by recently released party manifestos
Latest Events
Geopolitics in the 21st Century
April 25, 2017Policy 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
Hon Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, speaks at Policy Exchange
April 19, 2017Policy Exchange was delighted to host Hon Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives — giving his only public address during his trip to London with a bipartisan Congressional delegation.
After Iraq: When to go to war?
Jan 31, 2017This 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