Sakshi-Bansal-Y20

What the UK Brings to the Table: Reflections on Representation, Diversity, and Diplomacy from the Y20

When we think about the UK on the global stage, we often default to institutions such as Parliament, trade agreements, or foreign policy doctrines. But at forums like the G20, representation is not just institutional, it is deeply human. It is shaped by who sits in the room, what they carry with them, and how …

Y7-Lola-Milroy-Paris

Practicalities and Principles: Why the G7 Struggles with Climate Change

The tensions between the practicalities of consensus, including accommodating certain members’ views, and the principle of addressing current, global crises based on shared values have been particularly clear at the G7 this year.  As a Y7 representative of UK youth on ecological crises to the G7, I was responsible for representing the views of young …

Harrier-John-McCabe

Flying Jets in Modern Directions

Kerosene is part of an indispensable group of molecules imported to fuel British air travel. Given that much of the world’s economy depends on it, it would be no surprise to find that open conflict in the Gulf—the world’s largest concentration of transiting hydrocarbons—has challenged supply to Trumpian levels of deprivation. The United Kingdom’s Department …

UN-Security-Council

Multipolarity in an Undemocratic World

Editor’s Note: This piece was uploaded under the editor’s name but was authored by a contributor identifying as David. In Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, de Tocqueville argued that American institutions are not simply held up by law, but through a multifaceted and complex relationship between the separation of powers, popular engagement in direct …

UK-Middle-East-Mohammed-Nasser

Britain and the Middle East: Influence, Constraints, and Strategic Recalibration in a Changing Region

Britain’s relationship with the Middle East has been one of the most enduring yet strangely unsettled parts of its foreign policy since the end of the Second World War, and maybe even before that if one looks at the shadows of empire that lingered too long. From the slow dismantling of its imperial presence to …

BIGA-Navy-Brexit

Balancing Act: What Post-Brexit Britain Can Learn From the Past

Author’s Note: This piece was written as part of BIGA’s new partnership with EPIS, a student-led think tank in Europe who support discussion and debate from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. Be sure to check out their work! During a spring day in Washington D.C., in April 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed. …

Alastair-BIGA-UK-Foreign-Policy

The Road Ahead

As he began his speech, Prime Minister Starmer set out the dangers of a more threatening Russia with a stronger industrial base and the ability to employ malicious tactics below the threshold of war. Then there was a pause. Starmer had a small, wry smile as he said: “To break the convention of a thousand …

John-McCabe-Grey-Zone

Contesting the Grey Zone

It is with a heavy heart that the United Kingdom must now reckon with sustained confrontation from modern revisionist powers—some far larger than itself, some far more underhanded. The ‘grey zone’ of warfare has been stretched in scope and in potential for tenacity; tensions rise unreconciled by any commensurate appetite for escalation, while technological advance …

CANZUK-BIGA-Dai-Johnson

The Commonwealth of CANZUK: The Case for the UK

Photo: Lauren Hurley/No 10 Downing Street The United Kingdom finds itself torn between its closest allies. Whether it’s an increasingly subsidiary and powerless role compared to the United States or the difficult political relationship with the European Union, the ability to exert influence in the diplomatic sphere is strained. If future American administrations perceive any …

Britt-AI-Sexism

Encoding Inequality: Why Global AI Governance Must Confront Sexism

Author’s Note: This article focuses primarily on sexism and the disproportionate consequences of AI for women, it goes without saying that these technologies also affect other marginalised communities disproportionately. Applying a gendered lens to Global AI Governance, naturally also requires recognising and acting on this fact.  ‘The brave new world we are hurtling towards reflects …