In The News
Policy Exchange publications, staff and policy concepts in the press.
Foreign Policy & Security News
Policy Exchange welcomes Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
Policy ExchangePolicy Exchange welcomed Zoran Zaev, the Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia on Tuesday 10 July for a private breakfast discussion about his country’s current challenges and its planned accession to both the EU and NATO. Mr Zaev was in London for the Western Balkan Summit and will also be attending the NATO summit in Brussels later this week.
Policy Exchange welcomes Hon James Mattis
Policy ExchangePolicy Exchange was delighted to welcome Hon James Mattis, US Secretary of Defense, to our offices. Secretary Mattis discussed the current global situation, a situation which includes the threats posed by North Korea and a Russia seeking to challenge the territorial integrity of its neighbours. He also spoke of the enduring importance of the UK–US Alliance and of Britain’s continued moral voice on the world stage, as Policy Exchange argued for in The Cost of Doing Nothing. He also praised Policy Exchange’s record of thought leadership in making the case for a Global Britain’s continued commitment to NATO.
As the Government deals with the Russian threat, former Prime Minister David Cameron reminds us of another: Islamism
Policy ExchangeSpeaking at a Policy Exchange conference in Washington DC, former Prime Minister David Cameron warned of the continuing threat to the West posed by Islamism. Paul Goodman observed on ConservativeHome that no other UK think tank has ‘the reach to bring together 50 or so experts, wonks, and diplomats in America’s capital for an event like this’
Policy Exchange hosts Defence Secretary’s first keynote speech
Policy ExchangePolicy Exchange was delighted to host Defence Secretary Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE for his first keynote speech, held at Rolls Royce’s site near Bristol. The Defence Secretary condemned Russia’s “atrocious” actions in Salisbury and committed to a modernising defence programme because “soft power only works because hard power stands behind it”.
Policy Exchange welcomes Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Policy ExchangePolicy Exchange was delighted to host an event with the Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Julie Bishop. She testified to the strength of the relationship between Australia and the UK ahead of the forthcoming Commonwealth summit in April.
Policy Exchange’s Gabriel Elefteriu discusses the future of UK defence on Radio 4
Gabriel ElefteriuPolicy Exchange’ Senior Research Fellow for Defence and Border Security, Gabriel Elefteriu, appeared on Radio 4’s Analysis programme to discuss the future of UK defence.
Policy Exchange report cited in HuffPost blog on atrocities
Policy ExchangeA 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?
Policy ExchangeLeading 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.”
Chief of Defence Staff echoes Policy Exchange warning on undersea cables
Policy ExchangeThe Chief of the UK Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, has echoed Policy Exchange’s warnings about potential threats to the undersea communications cables that are vital to the internet and international commerce in the annual Chief of Defence Staff Lecture at the Royal United Services Institute. Sir Stuart’s comments come less than two weeks after the publication of our report Undersea Cables: Indispensable, insecure, which highlights that 97% of global communications and $10 trillion in daily financial transactions are transmitted by cables – but that those cables are highly vulnerable to attack from hostile states or terrorists.
New Anglo-American project launched with high-level conference in Washington
Policy ExchangePolicy Exchange launched our new Anglo-American project with a high level conference in Washington to debate US-UK Relations in a Changing World. Both the US National Security Adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster and the National Security Adviser to the British Prime Minister, Mark Sedwill CMG, spoke at the event – the first time the two holders of these positions have appeared together in public. The event attracted widespread media coverage including from Bloomberg, Newsweek, ABC News, Voice of America, Washington Times, The National, Mail Online and the New York Times.
