What will be new about 2021?

Wednesday 6th January, 6:30pm BST

2020 was a year like no other, consumed by a global pandemic, societies, cultures, workplaces, global relations were changed and the status quo shifted. As the new year approaches and the world starts to look beyond the coronavirus what will have changed, what will be new and what will 2021 look like? Our panel of experts discuss their predictions and hopes for the year ahead.

Speakers to include:

Christine Mikolajuk (Moderator) – Management consultant, freelance writer and media contributor

Frances Hudson – Former global thematic strategist at Standard Life

Ana Bozovic – Geopolitics and financial specialist & Founder of Analytics Miami

Nigel Inkster – Former deputy head of MI6, current Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies

Get your free ticket here.

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.

End of 2020 Virtual Networking Drinks

Tuesday 15th December, 6:30pm BST

2020 has been a strange year and as it draws to a close PS21 would like to do what it can to lift spirits and gather together some new faces in all global places!

Join us for an hour to toast the end of 2020 with zoom networking and ice breakers

Bring your own christmas jumpers, good cheer and drinks! Participants will be split into smaller groups, with icebreaking questions on what all have learnt from a very strange year, as well as your expectations, predictions, hopes and fears for 2021.

This event will be held online. Signup details will be sent to those who sign up on the link below.

Get your free ticket here.

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.

What does “security” mean in 2020?

Thursday, October 29th, 6:30pm BST

As Covid-19 reshapes the world and Britain begins its Integrated Defence and Security Review, what does the word “security” really mean in 2020 – and what structures, skills and mindsets are necessary to achieve it. This PS21 virtual panel will examine those questions, as well as how the UK can balance geopolitics, human rights and fast changing technology to survive and thrive in an increasingly messy, complex century.

Speakers to include:

Aditi Gupta (Moderator) – All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drones, on the board for Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security UK

Abigail Watson – Conflict and Security Policy Coordinator at Saferworld

Josh Arnold-Forster – Defence consultant and former Special Adviser to UK Defence Secretary John Reid

Emma Salisbury – PhD candidate at Birbeck College specialising in emerging technology and the military-industrial complex.

Get your free ticket here.

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.

The future of geopolitics in a COVID-19 world

Tuesday, October 6th, 6:30pm BST

Six months after Covid-19 shutdown the world and put PS21 on enforced hiatus, the Project for the Study of the 21st Century is back…

2020 has been a very strange year – but how much will it truly change the world? With multilateralism in doubt, rising tensions between multiple nations and strained domestic politics around the globe, PS21 examines the politics, geopolitics and dynamics of the post-Covid world – when that finally does come.

This discussion brings together a panel of experts to give us an update on what’s been happening these last few months and discuss what lies ahead for geopolitics. As the world teeters on the edge of a new lockdown, it marks the beginning of a new PS21 series of virtual events bringing together voices from around the globe to examine how our world is changing.

As always with PS21, discussion will be fast moving, sometimes irreverent, incisive, wide-ranging and thought-provoking…

Speakers to include:

Christine Mikolajuk (Moderator) – Management consultant, freelance writer and media contributor

Ari Ratner – Founder and CEO of Inside Revolution. Former US State Department official.

Ana Bozovic – Founder Analytics Miami

Ali Wyne – Nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute.

Get your free ticket here.

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 March 11 – SDSR: The Broader Context

We are sad to announce that tonight’s event: ‘SDSR: The Broader Context’, held at King’s College London will be cancelled. This decision has been made in order to ensure the health and safety of speakers and attendees relating to COVID-19.

Thank you for your understanding.
The PS21 Team

 

Wednesday, March 11th, from 06:30 p.m., Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, King’s Building (ground floor), King’s College London, Strand, WC2R 2LS

In the second of its events on Britain’s Strategic Defence and Security Review, PS21 examines the wider world. What should Britain be prioritising defending against? What are its allies and adversaries doing? How will emerging technologies change the game, and what should the UK be doing to stay ahead?

Moderator:

Peter Apps – Reuters Global Affairs Commentator, Executive Director and Founder of PS21

Speakers:

Lieutenant General Sir Graeme Lamb – Former Director Special Forces and Commander Field Army

Dr Maha Hosain Aziz– Professor of Global Risk at New York University and author of the recent, award-winning ‘Future World Order’

 

Doors open at 6:30 pm. The talk begins at 6:45 pm.

Get your free ticket here.

 

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 March 19 – Africa In The 21st Century: Change, Challenges and Hope

We are sad to announce that next week’s event: ‘Africa In The 21st Century’, will be cancelled. This decision has been made in order to ensure the health and safety of speakers and attendees relating to COVID-19. We hope to reschedule at a later time. Thank you for understanding, and hope you all stay safe.

 

Thursday, March 19th, from 06:30 p.m., room 1.60, Franklin-Wilkins Building, King’s College London, Stamford St, SE1 9NH

Often, antiquated stereotypes of a continent trapped in eternal crisis obstructs wide-spread recognition of the substantial developments occurring across certain areas of Africa. The 2019 African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACfTA) is now seen as a landmark demonstrating increasing intra-African trade, substantial investments in critical infrastructure and socio-economic developments, signalling a new era of hope. At the same time, Africa, continues to face high youth unemployment rates and serious challenges concerning migration, political instability, violence, and climate change. How will Africa’s young and ambitious workforce and their political leaders of today respond to these challenges? Can the prospect of industrial and economic growth be a guarantor for fighting poverty and ensuring peace? How wide-spread will any new prosperity be felt? And above all, will the economy and politics be able to make the 21st century into what many have termed to be Africa’s century?

Moderator:

Dr Flavia Gasbarri – Co-Chair of Africa Research Group and War Studies Teaching Fellow at KCL

Speakers:

Dr Kieran Mitton – Lecturer in International Relations and Co-Chair of Africa Research Group

Dr Sarah Njeri – Research Associate at the African Leadership Centre Former Humanitarian Aid Practitioner at UNDP Somaliland

Dr Althea-Maria Rivas – Lecturer and Programme Conveyor in Humanitarian Action at SOAS

Musa Kpaka – PhD Candidate at LSE, focusing on economics and financial institutions in Sierra Leone

 

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 February 19 – SDSR: What UK Defence Does Well and Badly

Wednesday, February 19th, from 06:30 p.m., K6.29, King’s College London, Strand, WC2R 2LS

As Britain begins its next Strategic Defence and Security Review, PS21 will be running a series of events looking at the big themes. We start by looking at what UK defence does well and badly. Join us with the King’s College London War Studies Society to talk aircraft carriers, Middle East interventions, great power competition, emerging technology, personal policy and more…

Moderator:

Peter Apps – Reuters Global Affairs Commentator, Executive Director and Founder of PS21

Speakers:

Jack Watling – Land Warfare Fellow at RUSI

Abigail Watson – Research Manager for the Remote Warfare Programme at Oxford Research Group

Josh Arnold-Forster – former Senior Advisor at the MOD

Sarah Church – Former Army Officer and former Labour Parliamentary Candidate

Doors open at 6:00 pm. The talk begins at 6:30 pm.

Get your free ticket here.

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 January 15 – 2020: The Year Ahead

PS21 2020 the year ahead event

Wednesday, January 15th, from 06:30 p.m., Bush House(SE) room 1.05, King’s College London, Strand, WC2R 2LS

 

PS21’s 2020 event program kicks off with a panel discussion looking at key themes that will define the first year of the new decade. Touching upon all topical issues such as international relations, technology, regional politics, conflict, economics and climate change.

Speakers:

Peter Apps (Moderator) – Reuters Global Affairs Columnist, Founder and Executive Director, PS21.

Nigel Inkster, Former MI6 Deputy Chief

Pepijn Bergsen, Research Fellow, Europe Programme, Chatham House

Alexandria Reid, Research Analyst at Royal United Services Institute

Lara Srivastava – Lawyer, media and technology adviser to governments and international organisations

 

Doors open at 06:00 p.m., with discussion beginning at 06:30 p.m.

Get your free ticket here.

 

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

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

Sign up here.

 

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 9 October – Careers in Foreign Policy

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.

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 17 September – What Will Historians Make of the 21st Century?

Tuesday, 17 September, from 06:00 PM, Juju’s Bar and Stage, Ely’s Yard, 15 Hanbury St, London E1 6QR.

What will future historians make of the era of Brexit, Donald Trump, Love Island, and the selfie stick. PS21 assembles a panel of historians, archaeologists and others to take an early shot at assessing how the last two decades might be remembered, and what that might tell us about the years to come. Expect arguments about what previous eras best reflect our own, what events, items, and personalities will be seen iconic, and whether anyone in the future will want to remember us at all.

Speakers:

Jonn Elledge (moderator) – Journalist, New Statesman.

Dr. Leslie James – Lecturer in Global History at Queen Mary University London

Richard Vinen – Professor of History at King’s College London

John Basset – Former GCHQ senior official and member of the PS21 International Advisory Group

Charlotte Yelamos – Doctoral researcher of Cold War archaeology at King’s College London

Jo Fox – Director of the Institute of Historical Research and Professor of Modern History at the University of London

Doors open 6pm, discussion begins 7pm.

Sign up here.

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 21 May – Making Modern Policymaking Work

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.

Sign up here.

To support PS21, donate here. 

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.