Amidst an unprecedented global crisis, a British naval squadron sets out for the Indo-Pacific. Facing a rising Asian power, the force is designed to demonstrate Britain’s commitment to deter aggression and uphold regional order. But British policymakers are unsure whether they will receive support from the world’s most powerful nation, the United States, if the status quo is challenged. A resurgence of American isolationism is fuelling concerns that it cannot be relied on in a crisis. If war erupts in…

Xi Jinping has cleared away the constitutional obstacles to becoming China’s leader-for-life, but does he face strong internal opposition to his ambitions? Has he over-reached domestically and internationally? Is the regime he leads outwardly strong, but inwardly weak?  Are the negative consequences of economic reform without political liberalisation coming home to roost? Are America and its allies awakening to a real China threat? Can they use their economic power to help those Chinese who want a free China to achieve it? Our speakers will…

Over the 8 years that have passed since the appointment of the new head of the Central Bank of Russia, the Russian banking system has undergone many changes, including the role of the Central Bank. Russian economists and activists from Aleksey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation Vladimir Ashurkov and Nikita Kulachenkov have conducted a study that combines and evaluates all the reasons, processes and factors that have influenced the country’s banking system. From the creation of the ‘Megaregulator’ and governmentalisation of the…

What do China’s mask diplomacy, America’s sanctions on Iran, Russia’s election interference, Belarus’s migration policy, struggles over Huawei, Covid-19 and Climate change have in common? Although seemingly separate events, they are all examples of globalisation being turned into a weapon. They are all connectivity conflicts with the potential to create economic hardship and pose costs to human life. In today’s world, many of the forces that were supposed to bring the world together have ended up driving us apart. Trade,…

Since 1945, the West has undergone a cultural shift comparable to the rise of Christianity or the Protestant Reformation. To a casual observer, the British Conservative party holding office for 32 of the last 50 years does not look like an organisation in crisis. At the same time, author and journalist Ed West believes they’ve lost almost every single political argument they’ve engaged in, watching as society drifts further and further to the left. Despite these nominal electoral successes, West…

With Russia, a faded superpower, invading its neighbour, Ukraine, the world is confronting afresh the perils of global bullies.  In the Indo-Pacific China has exploited its economic might in order to coerce its near-neighbours (and those beyond) to acquiesce to its ever-expansionist endeavours. Few countries have faced more of China's coercion than Australia. Following Australia's calls for a WHO investigation into the origins of COVID, China imposed punitive trade tariffs on symbolic Australian exports. Meanwhile, a series of cyber-attacks have…

In the last 10-15 years we have seen an increasingly brazen and widespread Russian campaign of hybrid warfare against the West. The UK has shown extraordinary restraint in the face of incidents such as the Skripal attack, and others have faced online barrages. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is now the time to ensure that the West has a suitable system of domestic defences against the “tripod” of Russian political warfare instruments: disinformation and cyber, financial, and human, whose aim…

The Suez Crisis of 1956 was Britain's twentieth-century nadir, the moment when the once superpower was bullied into retreat. In the immortal words of former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson, 'Britain has lost an empire and not yet found a role.' But the funny thing was, Britain had already found a role. It even had the costume. The leaders of the world just hadn't noticed it yet. 'Butler to the World' reveals how the UK took up its position at…

Since the beginning of the millennium, when Vladimir Putin took power in Russia, authoritarian leaders have come to dominate global politics. Self-styled strongmen have risen to power in Moscow, Beijing, Delhi, Brasilia, Budapest, Ankara, Riyadh and Washington. How and why did this new style of strongman leadership arrive? How likely is it to lead to war or economic collapse? And what forces are in place not only to keep these strongmen in check but to reverse the trend? Everywhere they…

Andrew Hastie, the Australian Shadow Minister for Defence is a man who knows the all too human price of freedom. Serving in the Australian Special Air Service Regiment, he saw action in special operations in Afghanistan. Since his election to the Australian Parliament, he has devoted himself to issues of national security, foreign policy, defence, security, and intelligence. More than perhaps any other global politician, his rise in Australian politics has gone hand-in-hand with a recognition and warning of the threat…

President Zelensky has said that Britain is Ukraine’s “most sincere friend”. With the Russian war of aggression continuing beyond the prognoses made in the first few months of the conflict, it is now time to prove this friendship through further support? Forthcoming changes at the helm of the British government and the threat of colder winter weather later in the year are creating some uncertainty about the nature of our long-term commitment to Ukraine, which must be explored. We also need…

The world seems to have gone directly from a hegemonic US-led international system to an interregnum in global order. The traditional phase of multipolarity—or a restoration of the balance of power, or even a struggle among rival systems of order, has been skipped. Jason Pack's newest book, Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder, presents the Libya and Ukraine conflicts as an ideal microcosms for examining the collective action failures typical of our new geopolitics. Its publication serves as an examination of the current state of…