HJS Launches Global Britain Programme

By HJS

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Twelve years after the launch of The Henry Jackson Society, Founding Member James Rogers has returned to lead our new Global Britain Programme.

James holds expertise in British grand strategy, European geopolitics and Baltic security, as well as European influence in the Indo-Pacific region. Formerly, he held a number of positions at the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, Estonia. There he was Acting Dean (2016), Director of the Department of Political and Strategic Studies (2015-2017), and Lecturer in International Relations (2012-2015). James has also worked at the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris, firstly as a Visiting Fellow (2008) and then as an Associate Fellow (2013) – latterly as lead rapporteur for a research project commissioned by the European Union Military Committee. He has also worked on research projects for several other institutions, including RAND Europe, Egmont Institute, and the European Council on Foreign Relations. James holds a B.Sc. Econ. with first class honours in International Politics and Strategic Studies from Aberystwyth University and an M.Phil in Contemporary European Studies from the University of Cambridge.

The Global Britain Programme will operate under the assumption that the British people would like to retain an active and expansive strategic policy, not least because their security and prosperity depend on it. The programme therefore believes that further polarisation over the merits of leaving or remaining in the European Union must be avoided, and that the entrenchment of neo-declinist and/or isolationist mantras must be prevented. It will argue that the time is ripe for a clear-headed and robust new strategic policy, combining foreign, security and defence elements, to harness the nation’s capabilities and put them to the service of the liberties of the British people, as well as those of their allies and partners overseas.

Consequently, the Global Britain Programme aims to contribute to the debate on the United Kingdom’s European and worldwide roles during and after leaving the European Union. Upholding the principles of democracy, it will embrace the result of the referendum, as well as the fact that almost 85% of votes in the recent general election went to parties supporting Brexit, and accept that Britain’s relations with the remainder of the European Union must change. However, it will advocate that the European mainland – the outer perimeter of the United Kingdom’s strategic defence system, where the country has long acted as an ‘ordering power’ – is critical to British security and prosperity, and that London should seek to keep Brussels and other European capitals as close as possible. Meanwhile, as they rise in strategic significance, the programme will look to other regions, such as the Indo-Pacific, advocating for enhanced British engagement across all economic, political and strategic vectors. Indeed, as the rise of such regions shapes the policy choices of some of Britain’s most important allies – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan, let alone the United States – this imperative will only grow in importance.

In short, the Global Britain Programme looks forward to taking part in these debates, under the aegis of The Henry Jackson Society’s own unique standpoint. It hopes to assist in redefining the parameters of the discussions over British strategic policy, in what should become a new and ambitious era for the country.

James Rogers said:

“I am delighted to return to The Henry Jackson Society to run the new Global Britain Programme.

“Twelve years ago, I played a part in helping to establish the Society in Cambridge. Back then, we were a small and eclectic group, but one with a big ambition: to advance a ‘proactive’ British and European strategic policy to protect the interests of liberty.

“The society has now come of age, with multiple research areas, of which mine – the Global Britain Programme – is the latest addition. Given the highly polarised environment that has followed the historic referendum on 24th June last year, this new research programme is needed more than ever.

“It is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to developing and expanding it.”

HJS



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