Time: 6:30 - 8:00pm
The idea that Britain stood for an economically liberal, rules-based international order, in close alliance with the United States and European powers, is now increasingly questioned. This is due not only to Brexit, but to developments including:
• Radical political movements on left and right which challenge globalization and the ‘Westminster elites’
• Increasing social diversity due to immigration and multi-multiculturalism
• Increasing political polarization driven by media fragmentation and social media
• Rapid changes in global politics, including Trump’s isolationism, Russian resurgence and the rise of China.
There is not only deep division about Britain’s relationship with Europe, but also the Transatlantic relationship and NATO; the role of the Commonwealth, Britain’s nuclear deterrent and military posture; trade and globalization; responsibilities towards the global south; human rights; defence sales; and the correct grounds for military intervention.
Is there any longer a meaningful vision of Britain’s national interest and role in the world that its diverse society can unite around? If so, what is it?
Chair:
Ritula Shah
Journalist and news presenter on BBC Radio. Ritula is the main presenter of The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 and previously presented Woman's Hour.
Panel Members:
Sophia Gaston
Director of the British Foreign Policy Group, Research Fellow at LSE, and author of Behind Global Britain: Public Opinion on the UK’s Role in the World (British Foreign Policy Group, 2019) and At Home in One’s Past: Nostalgia as a Cultural and Political Force in Britain, France and Germany(Demos, 2018).
The Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guildford
Former Energy secretary and Foreign Office Minister, former chair of House of Lords International Relations Committee (2016-19), and author of Look Where We're Going: Past Politics and Future Dangers (2019) and The Mother of All Networks: Britain and the Commonwealth in the 21st Century (2018).
Sherelle Jacobs
Assistant Comment Editor and columnist at the Daily Telegraph, whose columns on geopolitics include This chaotic global era will be a golden age for an independent Brexit Britain.
Dr David Wearing
Teaching Fellow in International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London, and author of Anglo-Arabia: Why Gulf wealth matters to Britain (2018).
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