Britain In The World
A Policy Exchange Project
Latest Publications
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Latest News
Policy Exchange’s Professor John Bew named as Specialist Adviser to Commons Foreign Affairs Committee as it announces new inquiry into Global Britain
Professor John Bew, Head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project, has been named as Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee. He will assist the Committee in its recently launched inquiry into “Global Britain”. To mark the appointment, Policy Exchange has produced a reading list of essential texts for anyone interested in Global Britain.
Policy Exchange report cited in HuffPost blog on atrocities
A year on from its publication and as Holocaust Memorial Day approaches, Policy Exchange’s report The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Price of Inaction in the Face of Mass Atrocities has featured in a HuffPost blog considering whether, and how, the UK should improve its record of interventions overseas.
North Korea – Is there a military option?
Leading South Korean General I-B Chun – former head of Korea’s Special Warfare Command – considered whether there is a military solution to the North Korean threat in an event at Policy Exchange. Chun warned that the North’s nuclear capability is not only directed at the United States; that we should all be worried about their cyber capability, indoctrination of children, that China would prefer a nuclear North Korea to a US-influenced state on its border. But he added: “I truly believe that my system of democracy, freedom, respect for human rights is far more powerful than any North Korean nuclear weapon.”
Latest Events
The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Price of Inaction in the Face of Mass Atrocities
Jan 26, 2017Former Prime Minister Rt Hon Gordon Brown launches Policy Exchange’s ‘The Cost of Doing Nothing’ report, which was started with Jo Cox, who believed ‘Britain must lead again’. Also joining us for this event, which was held at Policy Exchange on 26 January were Former Foreign Secretary Rt Hon Lord Hague (via recorded video message), Alison McGovern, MP for Wirral South, Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling and Professor John Bew, head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project
Future threats and their implications for U.S. Military Strategy
Jan 25, 2017This event was held at Policy Exchange on 25 January and featured Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, Director of Army Capabilities Integration Center and Deputy Commanding General, Futures, US Army Training and Doctrine Command
Security Challenges to the Continent
Jan 23, 2017This event was held at Policy Exchange on 23 January and featured Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, Commander of US Army Europe