PS21 Update – Project for the Study of the 21st Century

PS21 update – A Month of Trump

February 13, 2017Posted in PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

Greetings all,

Hard to believe, but we are still slightly less than a month into the presidency of Donald Trump. This weekend, the launch of a North Korean ballistic missile provided the new administration with what looks set to be perhaps its first – and maybe even one of its most defining – national security crises. You can read my column this week for Reuters on the subject here – but I’m sure this is a topic that will give us much more mileage for discussions and other interesting thinking in the days, weeks and months to come.

Many thanks to those of you who made it to our second anniversary drinks in London last week. A really good gathering, really good crowd and I’m delighted to say we have a very exciting collection of events coming up. Links to some of the next below, not just in London but also our first event of 2017 in Washington DC – what should be a fascinating discussion on what popular culture tells us about the age of Trump.

Not a PS21 event, but I’m due to moderate the relaunch of the UK Labour Party Friends of the Forces Group at the end of the month in London. Look forward to seeing any of those of you who are interested there…

All best,

Peter Apps

LONDON EVENTS

Humanitarianism and Human Rights After Aleppo

Wednesday, February 22, 530 p.m.. Whitehall, London – exact location to be confirmed to attendees

Former United Nations Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Sir John Holmes discusses the future of humanitarianism and human rights after Aleppo with Reuters global affairs columnist Peter Apps. The latest in a series of joint events held with the Project for Study of the 21st Century (PS21). We will be heading across the road to the Red Lion public house in Whitehall immediately afterwards.

HMG attendees [including military] should email tariq.york@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Relaunch of UK Labour Party Friends of the Forces

Monday, February 27, 6 p.m. Portcullis House, Westminster

Peter Apps [moderator] – Executive director, PS21. Global affairs columnist, Reuters. British Army Reservist

Toby Perkins MP – Chair, Labour Party Friends of the Forces

Nia Griffith MP – Shadow Defence Secretary

Lt Gen Sir Graeme Lamb – Former Director Special Forces and Commander Field Army

Email here to register

WASHINGTON DC EVENTS

Popular Culture in the Age of Trump

Tuesday, February 28, 530 p.m. Thomson Reuters, 1333 H Street Northwest, Washington DC

The Trump administration has already made its mark on Washington DC, American domestic politics, and America’s foreign policy abroad. In the wake of policies that have starkly divided popular opinions, some icons of pop culture, like Saturday Night Live, are quickly becoming the most vocal elements of President Trump’s opposition. Popular culture is always a reflection of reality, whether it’s meant to reflect it, shape it, or react to it. What does pop culture tell us about past administrations? How will it evolve as the Trump years unfold? How will Donald Trump, an icon of pop culture himself, adapt to the realities of governing? Join us for a panel discussion about what popular culture tells us about what we can expect, and what role popular culture will play, as the Trump presidency continues.

Panelists:

Alyssa Rosenberg writes about popular culture for The Washington Post’s Opinions section. Prieviously, she was the culture editor at ThinkProgress and a correspondent for The Atlantic.com, among other positions. Though originally from Massachusetts, Alyssa received her B.A. in humanities from Yale University. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Salon, and many other notable publications.

Maxim Leyzerovich is the Senior Experience Designer at nclud, a digital creative agency in DC. He focuses on design and concepting for clients that range from startups to Fortune 100 companies. Using his background in political science and programming, he is also an internet artist, whose recent work centers on surveillance, deception, and generative art.

Moderator:

Milena Rodban is a Global Fellow with PS21. She works as a geopolitical risk consultant and simulation designer, creating immersive experiences for clients in the technology, media, and higher education sectors that are navigating complex business and security environments. Milena is currently finishing a book on her ideas for improving the political risk industry. She completed her graduate studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

PS21 update weekending January 12

January 17, 2017Posted in London Events, PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

A really great event to begin the year last week hosted by the Cabinet Office looking ahead to 2017 really helped us discern some of the big themes for the year. We know, of course, that this is the year in which Brexit will begin to really mean Brexit. Within days, Donald Trump will be in the White House. Our discussion, though, went rather wider, looking at the really big questions of whether the liberal order is really in permanent retreat and what it might take for a more progressive, leftist message to emerge once again.

Some of those issues are considered on PS21 this week with this piece looking at whether Germany is genuinely moving to the right. My own peaceful Reuters, meanwhile, looks at the impact of the more salacious Russia-linked allegations around Trump and how that will likely dog his presidency, whether they are ultimately found to be true or not.

A really excellent discussion coming up in London next week will look at one of our perennial larger themes, the future of nuclear proliferation – or nonproliferation, for that matter. Clearly, this is going to be one of the themes of the Trump presidency, which appears to be keen on a nuclear deal with Russia even as it looks to tear up the one the Obama administration did on Iran. North Korea, meanwhile, lingers in the background, with a very real potential that it will finally perfect a credible nuclear tipped ballistic missile at some point in the coming presidency.

We have a range of other really great events timetable for the future, including some interesting wargames and scenario discussions. Amongst other topics, we will be looking at the rise of extremism in Europe, the future for humanitarianism and human rights after events in Aleppo and the largest questionable – how globalization can possibly work in an increasingly fraught decade and century.

We look forward to seeing you there,

Peter

UPCOMING EVENTS

The future of nuclear [non?] proliferation

Tuesday, January 24, six p.m.. Kings College London, Strand

From North Korea to Iran, Europe to the South China Sea, nuclear tensions seem on the rise this century. PS21 examines the drivers and technologies that encourage and allow this trend, and asks what – if anything – Western states can do to keep the risks in check.

Peter Apps [moderator] is executive director, PS21 and global affairs columnist, Thomson Reuters.

Cristina Varriale is a Research Analyst with RUSI’s Proliferation and Nuclear Policy Team. She specialises in non-proliferation, deterrence policy and CBRN security. Prior to joining RUSI, she worked in nuclear policy and research with the International Centre for Security Analysis (ICSA) and the British American Security Information Council (BASIC). Cristina holds an MA in Non-proliferation and International Security from King’s College London. She has also been a contributor at IHS Jane’s, and has written on nuclear issues for publications such as the Huffington Post and Prospect Magazine.

David Smart is a former UK civil servant who worked on Counter-Proliferation and Counter-Terrorism, and pioneered the exploitation of Financial Intelligence (FinInt) in these areas. Since leaving government service he has acted as a senior advisor to public and private sector clients on risk and security, with particular emphasis on economic crime and cyber-security.

John Bassett OBE worked for the British foreign service from 1991 to 2010. He was an adviser to the UK delegation during the final phase of negotiations on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and has 25 years of experience in various aspects of counterproliferation and arms control.

Paul Ingram is Executive Director of BASIC, responsible for developing its strategy to help reduce global nuclear dangers through disarmament and collaborative non-proliferation. Paul has authored a number of BASIC’s reports and briefings covering a variety of nuclear and non-nuclear issues since 2002. Paul has an extensive media experience and hosted a weekly peak-time talk show on IRINN (Iranian domestic TV News in Farsi) addressing issues relevant to global security 2007-2012. He also taught systems approaches on the flagship Top Management Programme at the UK government’s National School of Government 2006-2012.

PS21 new year update and upcoming events

January 4, 2017Posted in PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

Dear all,

Hope you had a good Christmas and new year break – even if the news cycle appears to keep determinedly churning out interesting new events right up until the end of the year. From the deaths of a remarkable number of celebrities to the electoral shots of Trump Brexit and beyond, 2016 was unquestionably a year to remember.

Here’s my Reuters column from just before Christmas looking back on the year and heads to 2017. Within a couple of days of that moving, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin appeared to be staring things up still further with the beginnings of a new arms race – so here is a piece on that as well.

Nuclear nonproliferation and associated risks is going to be one of the issues we look at it events both sides of the Atlantic later this year. But we also have a wide range of other discussions in the pipeline, and I’m looking forward greatly to introducing them to you in due course.

For now, however, he is an invitation to our first London event next week – looking forward to the year ahead and beyond that to some of the growing new challenges the decade and the century is producing. It should be a really great event, and look forward to seeing you there

all best,

Peter Apps

Global affairs columnist, Reuters

Executive Director, PS21

UPCOMING EVENTS

Challenges and trends in 2017 and beyond

Whitehall, London [exact location to be confirmed to attendees]. Thursday, January 12, 2016, 630 p.m.

Trump takes the White House. Brexit moves towards reality. The year 2017 is already shaping up to be a potentially fascinating – and perhaps deeply unstable – one. PS21 and Young Professionals in Foreign Policy pull together a top-flight panel to discuss the risks, trends and events to watch in the coming year and beyond.

Antony Underwood [moderator] – Executive Director, Young Professionals in Foreign Policy

Peter Apps – Reuters Global Affairs Columnist. Executive Director, PS21

John Bassett – Former GCHQ official. Board member, PS21

Henry Wilkinson – Head of Intelligence and Analysis, Risk Advisory Group

Jonathan Wood – Global Trends Analyst, Control Risks

PS21 update week ending Nov 11

November 12, 2016December 28, 2019Posted in Networking Drinks, PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

As always, many thanks for joining us on the PS21 journey. We had a couple of great events coming up in London over the next couple weeks, with some exciting plans for New York and Washington DC as well.

Many thanks to all who came to our joint US election drinks with Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. So far it was, of course, something of a rerun of our Brexit night drinks – right down to the surprise result that left a fair number of attendees with their heads in their hands. Interesting times indeed. For my take on the election results, here’s my latest column for Reuters.

A couple of other interesting pieces on PS21 in the last week, one on China and international food security and the other how militant group Hamas is increasingly seen as a model for others. A reminder that those who would like to write can contact our editor.

Needless to say,

Peter Apps, Executive Director

UPCOMING EVENTS

Twenty-first Century Peacebuilding from Northern Ireland to Syria

Monday November 14, 6pm War Studies Meeting Room, K6.07 Kings College London

According to the Global Peace Index, there are only 10 countries in the world in 2016 which can be considered free from conflict. The ongoing crisis in Gaza; worsening conflicts in the Middle East; the international stand-off in Ukraine and the lack of a solution to the refugee crisis are some examples of the contributing factors that have made the world less peaceful in 2016 than it was in 2015.

Drawing on the lessons learnt in the Northern Ireland peace process, our speakers will assess 21st centruy peacebuilding strategies in the context of 21st century conflicts. Do we haev the tools to tackle some of these seemingly intractable situations? What have we learnt and what have we not learnt? Our speakers will look at conflict resolution and peace building strategies, contextualised in 21st century examples.

Dr Gordon Clubb is a Lecturer in International Security at the University of Leeds and is the director of the Terrorism and Political Violence Association. He has published on former combatants in Northern Ireland and the disengagement and de-radicalisation of terrorist movements.

Dr. Anastasia Voronkova is Research Fellow for Armed Conflict at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and Editor of the IISS’s new annual publication, the Armed Conflict Survey. Anastasia holds a PhD in comparative conflict studies from Queen Mary, University of London. She has extensive fieldwork experience in Northern Ireland and the South Caucasus. Her research interests include comparative conflict resolution, communication strategies and rhetoric of non-state armed groups, the political economy of armed conflicts, security and terrorism.

Prior to joining IISS she held teaching positions at University College London and Queen Mary University of London.

Haid Haid is a Syrian columnist and researcher who focuses on security policies, conflict resolution, Kurdish and Islamist movements. Prior to that, he was a programme manager on Syria and Iraq at the Heinrich Böll Stiftung-Middle East Office in Beirut. He also worked as a senior community services-protection assistant at UNHCR- Damascus office. He has a BA in Sociology, a post graduate diploma in counseling, an MA in social development and has just completed another MA in conflict resolution at King’s College.

Moderator: Professor Joe Maiolo is the Deputy Head of the Department of War Studies, Director of the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War, and Professor of International History. He is an editor of The Journal of Strategic Studies, and co-editor of The Strategy Reader, a member of the editorial board for Intelligence & National Security, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

He is currently a Visiting Research Professor at the Norwegian Defence Intelligence School, Oslo.

This event is being run in partnership with the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War at KCL.

Please sign up here.

Lessons from the War in Yemen

Tuesday, November 22, 2016, 630 p.m. Development House, Leonard Street, EC2

Of all the conflicts in which the West is found itself a player in the last decade, Yemen has proved one of the most enduring and complex. What was once the scene of a Western-backed attempt to prop up an unpopular local leader and fight Al Qaeda is now a proxy conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. As we head towards a new US administration and perhaps even more uncertain in Europe, PS21 and the Remote Warfare Project pull together a uniquely qualified panel with a wide range of experience in the country to discuss its lessons and what might happen next.

Peter Apps [moderator] – executive director, PS21 and global affairs columnist, Thomson Reuters

Baraa Shihan – Yemeni human rights activist

Iain Smailes – retired British Army officer and former defense attache, Yemen

Emily Knowles – Project Manager, Remote Control, a monitoring group specializing in the use of special forces, drones and other not always accountable forms of warfare

PS21 update week ending Oct 21

October 18, 2016December 28, 2019Posted in PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

A great discussion last night in Whitehall on Russia in the world with the excellent IHS country analyst Alex Kokcharov. Nothing quite like discussing the risk of great power tensions and conflict in the very room from which Winston Churchill announced the end of the second world war in Europe.

Delighted to announce we have what I’m sure should be a similarly excellent discussion next week in New York, kindly hosted by Thomson Reuters. Please find details below.

We have a couple of weeks off from events in the UK but as you’ll see from below, we have some really great stuff planned for November in various locations. Look forward to seeing some of you there.

All best,

Peter Apps@PS21

For those interested in the unfolding battle for Mosul, here’s my piece on the subject from last week for Reuters.

NEW YORK

America in the world after the election

Wednesday, October 26, seven p.m. Millennium Room, Thomson Reuters, Times Square

As we near the end of perhaps the most contentious presidential election in recent history and the end of a turbulent year for international security and diplomacy, PS21 pulls together a panel of international affairs experts and journalists to discuss the security challenges the next president will face on the world stage. What crises might loom on the horizon in 2017? How should the next president prioritize global security concerns and assess threats to US interests? How will the US find its footing again after the dislocations, reversals and upheavals of 2016?

Arlene Getz (moderator) – Editor In Charge, Reuters Digital

Charley Cooper – Managing Director, R3; Former Special Advisor to Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz

Asha Castleberry – PS21 Global Fellow; Fellow Adjunct Professor of Political Science, Fordham University; Army Veteran

Mohamad Bazzi – Associate Professor of Journalism, New York University; Former Middle East Bureau Chief, Newsday

LONDON

We will open booking to these events next week, but in the meantime save the following dates

Wednesday, November 2 – Looking back on 15 years of war in Afghanistan

Tuesday, November 6 – US election drinks reception

Monday, November 14 – 21st century peacebuilding from Northern Ireland to Syria

Further details on speakers, venues and ttimings to follow

PS21 update weekending October 7

October 7, 2016Posted in PS21 UpdateTagged FeaturedLeave a comment

Another really great discussion this afternoon, this time with the head of counterterrorism for the Kurdistan Regional Government on the counterterrorism picture in northern Iraq. Many thanks to the Cabinet Office/HM Treasury for hosting.

Plenty going on as we head into a potentially frenetic boredom, with the UK departure from the European Union vying with the US elections and wider global political mayhem. Plenty more interesting PS21 discussions to come, the details of two of which are attached below…

UPCOMING EVENTS

Technology, politics, society and culture

Monday 10th October 2016. Drinks from six p.m., discussion from 630 p.m. Neo Bankside, SE1

From the shanty towns of Lagos to the rise of Brexit and Trump, crowdsourcing to video on demand, changing technology is revolutionising society and politics round the world. How are modern political and media networks evolving? What does that mean for changing prower structures? How does it differ between the developing and the developed world? Where will it all go next? PS21 pulls together an expert panel to examine the changes seen so far and asks where these trends will take us next.

Peter Apps (moderator) – Reuters Global Affairs Columnist and PS21 Executive Director

Emmanuel Akinwotu – Journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria, writing for Guardian and New Stateman

John Elledge – Editor, Citymetric, member of the PS21 governing board

Eleanor Harrison OBE – CEO of award winning charity GlobalGiving UK; the world’s first and largest global crowdfunding comm unity for non-profits, GlobalGiving.co.uk

Aaron Bastani – Left-wing blogger and founder of Novara Media

Russia in the world

Monday, October 17, six p.m. London location to be confirmed to attendees

Alex Kokcharov, Russia analyst at IHS, discusses Russia and its relations with the rest of the world with Reuters global affairs columnist Peter Apps

PS21 update week ending September 31

October 4, 2016Posted in Networking Drinks, PS21 UpdateTagged FeaturedLeave a comment

Dear all,

Hoping this finds you well. Many thanks to those of you who made it to our drinks in London last week – a good crowd, and some interesting discussions.

A couple of interesting events below. Firstly we have a really fantastic panel coming up next Monday on changing trends in technology, society, politics and culture. Really looking forward to pushing some truly interesting issues.

For those in town this Friday, we also have a handful of spaces as a great discussion taking place in Whitehall with the head of counterterrorism for Iraqi Kurdistan. Details also below.

All best,

Peter

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tech, society, politics and culture

Monday 10th October 2016, 6:00pm-7:00pm

Location to be confirmed to attendees.

Peter Apps (moderator) – Reuters Global Affairs Columnist and PS21 Executive Director

Emmanuel Akinwotu – Journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria, writing for Guardian and New Stateman

John Elledge – Editor, Citymetric, member of the PS21 governing board

Eleanor Harrison OBE – CEO of award winning charity GlobalGiving UK; the world’s first and largest global crowdfunding comm unity for non-profits, GlobalGiving.co.uk

Aaron Bastani – Left-wing blogger and founder of Novara Media

Counterterrorism in Iraqi Kurdistan

Friday, October 7, Whitehall, three p.m. [exact venue to be confirmed to attendees]

PS21 is delighted to host an off the record discussion on the security situation in northern Iraq with Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani, director of intelligence and counterterrorism for the Kurdistan Regional Government. The event will be moderated by Peter Apps, global affairs columnist at Reuters.

PS21 update weekending Sept 24

September 25, 2016Posted in Networking Drinks, PS21 UpdateTagged FeaturedLeave a comment

Moderated two fascinating discussions last week, one for PS21 on migration, politics and security in Europe and the other at New Scientist Live on science and foreign policy for UK Foreign Office think tank Wilton Park. Both really underlined just how much flux there is in the global system at present – and both put me in mind of the 1930s, but in very different ways.

The migration discussion was illuminating – a really great range of panelists, both from migrant backgrounds and experts. All painted a picture of growing political polarization, tightening borders and sometimes arbitrary ethnic divisions. The drivers, unfortunately, seemed relatively intractable – this week has seen the apparent collapse of a tentative US-Russian deal on the Syrian Civil War. He is my latest piece from Reuters this week looking at just how difficult it’s going to be to move on from that, not least because any Western intervention now risks also becoming a military confrontation with Moscow.

The discussion on science and foreign policy was, perhaps predictably, rather more uplifting. There are some fascinating developments taking place, many of them fueled by recent advances in computing power. That is revolutionizing our understanding of medicine, physics and just about everything else. We talked about how science could both be a driver for international cooperation or rivalry – or, for example in the case of space exploration, both simultaneously. What was most striking, however, was just how little real idea we have about what some of these emerging changes might actually mean.

UPCOMING EVENTS

London networking drinks

Thursday, September 29, six p.m. onwards

Join us for our next PS21 networking event. This is a great opportunity to meet, and catch up with, career professionals while exchanging insights and enjoying a September evening.

As ever, we look forward to seeing familiar faces as well as new.

Where: The George, 213 the Strand, London

RSVP here

PS21 update week ending September 2

September 3, 2016September 3, 2016Posted in London Events, PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

Many things to Financial Times global affairs columnist Gideon Rachman for a truly excellent discussion at HM Treasury last week on risks to come in the rest of 2016 and beyond. Plenty of interesting thought material, from the way in which the British establishment largely missed the UK referendum result warning signs to the upcoming US election. Brings into context while the themes we have been looking at for much of the last 18 months – the growing disconnect between metropolitan elites [of which, admittedly, global affairs columnists like myself and Gideon are probably card-carrying members] and just about everybody else.

Just putting the finishing touches to the scenario for this Thursday’s evening event at King’s College London. In a new departure for us, where getting a top-flight panel – primarily former officials of various types – and confronting them with a fictitious but plausible real-world scenario.

In this case, it’s going to be a confrontation in the Baltic states. We have a fictional Baltic state, runaway drones and all manner of other interesting things to throw at them. Sign up below – it promises to be a truly interesting discussion.

PS. Now we are into September, I’m delighted to say we’re aiming to kick the PS21 website and editorial content back into gear. If you are interested in writing, please email Editor@Projects21.org and our team will get back to you.

Peter Apps

Executive Director

UPCOMING EVENTS

PS21 scenario event – confrontation in the Baltics

WHEN: Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 18:00 PM

WHERE: War Studies Meeting Room (K6.07 )King’s College London – Strand, London, WC2R 2LS.

As part of a new series of sceario-based events, PS21 looks at risks of escalation between NATO and Russia in the Baltic states. Also a chance to hear about PS21’s major international crisis scenario, GLOBAL TURMOIL, which will be running in 2017.

Our scenario begins in September 2016, with an armed Russian drone approaching our fictional Baltic state of Livonia…

Featuring:

Peter Apps (Moderator) – Managing Director of PS21 and Global Affairs Columnist, Thomson Reuters

Dr. Zachary Wolfraim – PhD King’s College London, former consultant, NATO Headquarters

Dr. Allan Sikk – Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies

Erik Lin-Greenberg – Former US Air Force Intelligence Officer, PhD Candidate Columbia University

Peter Roberts – Senior Research Fellow in Sea Power and Maritime Studies, RUSI

Brigadier Ben Barry – Senior Fellow for Land Warfare, IISS

You can sign up here.

Save the date…

Looking back on 9/11 15 years on

Wednesday, September 14, six p.m., King’s College London

Details to follow shortly…

Migration and Politics in Europe

Wednesday, September 21, six p.m., King’s College London

Details to follow

PS21 update weekending August 26

August 31, 2016September 2, 2016Posted in PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

Greetings all,

The summer is drawing to a close, and will greatly looking forward to this evening’s discussion in Whitehall with Financial Times global affairs columnistGideon Rachman [sadly sold out].

Can we have some really great events planned for the autumn, starting with a fascinating discussion only Baltic States next Thursday at King’s College London. For the first time, with pushing beyond the standard panel discussion and will be confronting our expert panel with some real world scenarios for potential – and often inadvertent – escalation in tensions between NATO and Russia.

It’s a template we hope we can use for what should be some really interesting, thought-provoking discussions – we had a first try using this format behind closed doors a couple of weeks ago examining what might happen in the event of a major cyber attack on London, and I have to say it worked very well. Now we are adding an audience, and I’m excited to see how it goes.

As you’ll see from below, this is a precursor to a major series of scenario discussions and exercises we will be running next year that I look forward to introducing you to shortly.

For those who prefer more conventional articles and formats, however, my Reuters: this week looks at whether Europe might actually be overreacting to the current terror threat.

Peter Apps

Executive Director

UPCOMING EVENTS

Baltic states conflict scenario discussion

Thursday, September 8, six p.m. King’s College London

As part of a new series of scenario-based events, PS21 looks at risks of escalation between NATO and Russia in the Baltic states. Also a chance to hear about PS21’s major international crisis scenario, GLOBAL TURMOIL, which will be running in 2017. Featuring:

Peter Apps (Moderator) – Managing Director of PS21 and Global Affairs Columnist, Thomson Reuters

Dr. Zachary Wolfraim – PhD King’s College London, former consultant, NATO Headquarters

Dr. Allan Sikk – Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies

Erik Lin-Greenberg – Former US Air Force Intelligence Adviser (Current Reservist), PhD Candidate Columbia University

Peter Roberts – Senior Research Fellow in Sea Power and Maritime Studies, RUSI

Brigadier Ben Barry – Senior Fellow for Land Warfare, IISS

Limited tickets available. Sign up here

PS21 update week ending August 19

August 21, 2016Posted in PS21 UpdateTagged FeaturedLeave a comment

Another truly excellent PS21 discussion last week on the changing counterterrorism picture. Many thanks to all those attending – particularly our panelists, of course – as well as to the UK Cabinet Office for hosting. I believe some of the hardier attendees were still continuing the discussion in a restaurant in Soho in the early hours of the morning…

A really fantastic discussion last week on the changing militant threat – many thanks to all those who came, particularly our excellent panelists, and of course to the UK Cabinet Office for hosting.

Another event definitely not worth missing will follow next week – this time looking back on a turbulent year, ahead to the next four months and beyond. Sign up quickly as as always, I’m sure tickets will go quickly.

A couple of pieces by me on Reuters.com in the last week. The first looks at Russia’s game plan in Ukraine and the second looks at how the Syria conflict has increasingly become a proxy battle of ideas – or perhaps more accurately, worldviews – between Moscow and Washington.

Once again, many thanks to all of you for being part of the PS21 journey. We have some really interesting stuff coming up in the months to come, not just in the UK but also North America.

All best,

Peter

UPCOMING EVENTS

2016 – What Could Happen Next?

Wednesday, August 31, 530 p.m. Whitehall – exact location to be confirmed to attendees

The Brexit Referendum. Attacks in Brussels, Nice, and Orlando, just to name a few. North Korean nuclear and missile tests. Saber rattling with Russia and China. And, of course, the fascinating circus that is the US presidential election.

8 months in, 2016 has already seen enough drama to fill many normal years. But where does the world go from here? Financial Times Global Affairs Columnist Gideon Rachman talks through the options with PS21 Executive Director and Reuters Global Affairs Columnist Peter Apps.

PS21 update week ending August 5

August 7, 2016Posted in PS21 UpdateTagged FEATURE, Featured, PS21 UpdateLeave a comment

Apologies for the delayed update this week – was traveling in Paris last week which was a fascinating experience but inevitably nudged me a little behind.

Over the last 10 days, we’ve had some great updates on the PS21 website including this look at the current situation in the South China Sea. We also have the latest addition to our Imagining 2030 series, this time looking at the potential bleak future for young people in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, on Reuters.com, I’ve been looking at just how much worse 2016 could get, whether Vladimir Putin is really trying to get Donald Trump elected president and also examining what Americans really want from the world this election season.

PS21 is relatively light on events this August, but the one event we do have coming up in Whitehall on August 17 should be seriously good. If the militant threat is the story of the summer – and that definitely feels like the case for now – it’s as good a panel as you could possibly expect.

We also have some really great events coming up for September including looking at potential scenarios for tensions in the Baltic states, I look back at 911 15 years on and a discussion on migration in Europe. Stay tuned for further details.

Peter Apps

Executive Director, PS21

Global affairs columnist, Reuters news

UPCOMING EVENTS

LONDON

The changing face of counterterrorism

Wednesday, August 17, 530 p.m. for 6 p.m. start. Whitehall – attendees to be notified of exact location

From Paris to Brussels,, Nice, Orlando and beyond, Western states appear to be facing an almost unprecedented tempo of militant attacks – although they pale in comparison to those in truly front-line nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria. With a growing number of such incidents apparently involving single radicalized individuals, often with mental health problems, how can one really define “terrorism”? And with recent attacks in Europe and North America now helping drive domestic politics, what can be done to protect civilians while avoiding further polarizing communities and deepening divisions?

Peter Apps [moderator] – executive director, PS21. Reuters global affairs columnist

Nigel Inkster – former deputy chief, MI6, now head of transnational threats and political risk for international Institute for Strategic Studies

Omar Hamid – former Pakistani police officer, now head of Asia-Pacific risk at IHS

Julia Ebner – policy analyst specializing in European militant threats, Quilliam Foundation