Britain In The World
A Policy Exchange Project
Latest Publications
Foreign Policy and National Security in the New Parliament
John Bew and Gabriel ElefteriuIn 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
John Bew and Professor David Martin JonesFollowing 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?
Ray BassettIn 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
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?
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.
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’.
Latest News
Niall Ferguson compares balance of power to Congress of Vienna at Policy Exchange’s Anglo-American conference
Professor Niall Ferguson, who spoke at the launch of Policy Exchange’s new Anglo-American project, argued that the best historical analogy for the current balance of powers is with the pentarchy of five great powers that dominated European (and hence world) affairs for a century after the Congress of Vienna of 1814-15. A modern pentarchy was created in the form of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Professor Ferguson argues that “Whether or not these five great powers can make common cause once again is the great geopolitical question of our time.”
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.
Latest Events
US foreign policy under the new President
Nov 10, 2016Held at Policy Exchange on 10 November, this event featured Walter Russell Mead and Sir Nigel Sheinwald GCMG
What Would Clem Do?
Oct 11, 2016‘Citizen Clem’, the new biography of Clement Attlee, written by John Bew, head of Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World project, provides the focus for a panel discussion on Labour’s past and future
East or West: where does the future of UK Foreign Policy lie?
Sep 14, 2016Policy Exchange’s Britain in the World Project examines the UK’s relationship with Asia and the opportunities and challenges post-Brexit. With Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs columnist of the Financial Times and Con Coughlin, Defence Editor of the Daily Telegraph
