British Foreign Policy – Project for the Study of the 21st Century

London Event November 19 – Ethics in the West: reality or fallacy?

October 28, 2019November 11, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Europe, Events, Politics, US Foreign PolicyLeave a comment

Tuesday, November 19th, from 06:00 p.m., Ninety One, Brick Lane, London, E1 6QR.

Ethics, ethical policy making, and human rights standards are core pillars of the identities of states in the West, and also provide substantiation for a moral high ground often invoked. However today, discrepancies between those moral standards and the actual policies enacted are stark- compelling us to question the authenticity of the ‘Ethical West’. This panel aims to identify and discuss those disparities within policy sectors of migration, technology and privacy, foreign policy, and more—perhaps to come to a conclusion about what ethical price Western states are willing to pay in the execution of domestic and foreign affairs.

Speakers:

Dr Elspeth Guild – Professor at Queen Mary University and co-editor of the European Journal of Migration and Law

Areeq Chowdhury – Head of Think Tank at Future Advocacy

Beth Oppenheim – Researcher at the Centre for European Reform

Dr Theologia Iliadou – Founder of GenSoc

Moderator:

Dr Eleanor Beevor – Research Analyst at International Institute of Security Studies

Doors open at 6pm, the event will begin at 6:30pm. Please bring photo ID.

GDPR notice: By signing up for this event, you are giving PS21 consent to share your details with the venue for security purposes. We will also add you to our events mailing list, from which you can unsubscribe at any time. If you have any queries or would prefer not to be added, please contact ps21central@gmail.com.

London Event 15th of October – A Green New Deal?

September 25, 2019October 3, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Events, Globalisation, London Events, Science and TechnologyTagged climate change, environment, EU, Europe, Government, Science and Technology, SecurityLeave a comment

Tuesday, October 15th from 6 PM, Juju’s Bar and Stage, Ely’s Yard, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR.

The Green New Deal is a term that has been thrown around by policymakers both in the US, Europe and in the UK. But what is the Green New Deal, and what are the policy implications of it? How far must British and European policymakers go in order to reduce their emissions by 2030? What industries will die down in this process, and who is this affecting? Is it feasible, both in an economic and political perspective, that politicians and policymakers will pursue a Green New Deal? Are there security implications for restructuring our economic policies to fit the new green policies? Are there security implications if we don’t?

SPEAKERS

Dr Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli is a public international lawyer, with expertise in international environmental law and climate and energy law, based at King’s College London.

Dr Simon Chin-Yee is also based at King’s College London, in the European Centre for Energy and Resource Security (EUCERS) in the War Studies department.

Christopher Barnard is the founder and president of the British Conservation Alliance, an organisation working to promote pro-market environmentalism and conservative conservation.

Peter Apps has been the Executive Director of PS21 since 2015, and is a Reuters global affairs columnist.

James Rising is an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE.

Alex Chapman is a consultant at the New Economics Foundation, with experience in qualitative and quantitative research, project evaluation and policy analysis.

Sign up here.

London Event 9 October – Careers in Foreign Policy

September 18, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Events, London Events, Politics, Society and CultureLeave a comment

Wednesday, 9 October, from 06:30 PM, Room 1.01, Bush House NE wing, King’s College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS.

PS21 is pairing with YPFP to bring you a careers focused discussion on the foreign policy sector. We have assembled a panel of young experts to talk about their experiences in work, opinions on the sector as a whole and to provide advice to those aspiring to work in foreign policy. The event is an incredible opportunity for students to engage with experts who have recently left university.

Speakers:

Samuel Genge (moderator) – Chief of Staff, PS21

Yasmin Afina – Research Assistant, International Security Department, Chatham House

Mathieu Boulègue – Research Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House

Gurjinder Dhaliwal – Executive Director of YPFP.

Kyle Parks – Civil Servant and Diplomatic Service Fast Streamer

Elisa Cattaneo – Expert in international development, Youth Business International

Ulrike Esther Franke – Policy Fellow, European Council on Foreign Relations

Doors open 6pm, discussion begins 6:30pm.
Please bring photo ID.

Sign up here.

London Event 21 May – Making Modern Policymaking Work

May 3, 2019May 21, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Conflict, Events, PoliticsLeave a comment

Tuesday, May 21, from 06:00 p.m. Juju’s Bar and Stage, Ely’s Yard, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR.

In a fast moving new century, how can policymaking keep up? What new pressures do technology, social media, populism and globalisation exert on making government work? What skills. techniques and strategies work best to get ahead- and how does anyone handle the stress?

PS21 pulls together an expert panel to discuss. This event will be held under Chatham House rules

Speakers:

Jessica Toale (moderator) – incoming PS21 board member, former Executive Director, Centre for Development Results.

Liane Saunders – Strategy Director and Strategic Programme Coordinator, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Jack Watling – Land Warfare Fellow, Royal United Services Institute

Myles Wickstead – Former senior UK development official, British Ambassador to Ethiopia and World Bank board member

Doors open 6pm, discussion starts at 7pm, as per usual, the bar will be open throughout.

To support PS21, donate here.

London Event 16 April – In Conversation with Sir John Holmes

April 8, 2019April 8, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Events, Geopolitics, PoliticsLeave a comment

Tuesday, 16 April, from 06:00 p.m., London School of Economics, Alumni Theater, New Academic Building, 54 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn WC2A 3LA

Held in collaboration with the London School of Economics United Nations Society.

Join PS21 and the LSE UN Society for a discussion with renowned former British diplomat Sir John Holmes. Sir John Holmes joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1973. Over his 46-year career he has been posted to every corner of the world and held many senior government positions, including Head of the European Union Department, Ambassador to Portugal and Ambassador to France. Between 2007 to 2010 he served as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Sir John Holmes currently sits as Chair of the Electoral Commission.

In our conversation, we aim to explore Sir John Holmes’ career, his perception on how international affairs has changed, and his analysis of contemporary international issues informed by unmatched experienced.

Doors will open at 06.00 p.m. with the event beginning at 06:30. Upon arrival, check in at reception, they will then direct you to the room.

Note – For this event, we are using Google forms, not Eventbrite.

To support PS21, donate here.

PS21 Event Writeup: ‘Changing Face of Conflict’ (Febuary 26)

March 25, 2019Posted in Blog, British Foreign Policy, ConflictLeave a comment

By Qistina Tengku

Photo Credit: Janosch Siepen

In the latest collaborative event between Strife and PS21, part of the ‘Changing Faces of Conflict’ series, the discussion aimed to explore the lessons learned in the Iraq and Afghan wars. The panel was moderated by Reuters Global Affairs Columnist Peter Apps.

Emma Sky, Director of the Yale University World Fellows Program and senior advisor to US officials in Iraq, said the invasion of Iraq should not have happened – but that nothing that occurred in Iraq after 2003 was inevitable. Sky explained how US policies collapsed the state of Iraq, leading to Iraq’s descent into civil war and the rise of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. From 2007-2009, the US had the right strategy, leadership and resources – and the civil war ended. However, the failure to uphold the results of Iraq’s 2010 national elections, led to sectarian policies, an increase in the Iranian influence, and the rise of ISIS out of the ashes of al-Qaeda in Iraq – with a devastating impact on Syria during the Arab Spring. The unintended consequence of our interventions in the Middle East has been the refugee crisis, contributing to the rise of populism in the West.

Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb, former Director Special Forces and Commander Field Army, said indecisive and unrealistic decisions by politicians put huge pressure on operational commanders in both conflicts. He said modern fourth generation warfare showed state and non-state adversaries alike deliberately targeting the West’s willpower through using asymmetric tactics, a major shift from the force-on-force confrontations of previous eras. Examples of unexpected consequences included the damage to U.K. National Health Service systems from the North Korea-linked WannaCry cyberattack. Western states were increasing turning to new systems and structures such as the U.S. Cyber Command to address such threats, he said.

London Event 26 February – Changing Face of Conflict

February 13, 2019February 22, 2019Posted in British Foreign Policy, Conflict, EventsLeave a comment

Tuesday, 26 February, 6pm, Kings College London Waterloo Campus, Room G.73, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 127 Stamford St, South Bank, London, SE1 8WA.

In collaboration with Strife

In the latest of our ‘changing face of conflict’ series, PS21 brings together two of the UK’s most experienced veterans of the Iraq and Afghan wars, discussing the lessons of those conflicts and how war is evolving today.

Speakers:

Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb – Ex Director Special Forces and Ex Commander Field Army, previously special advisor to US General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan.

Emma Sky – Director of the Yale University World Fellows Program, senior advisor to US and British officials in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Upon arrival, reception will sign you in, they will then direct you the room. Doors will open at 06:00 p.m., the event will begin at 06:30 p.m.

To support PS21, donate here.

Strife is a is a dual format publication comprised of Strife blog and the Strife Journel. Their thematic focus is conflict and they are led by doctoral and graduate researchers based in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London.

See more of Strife’s content here