Here are my British Foreign Policy 10 from a week when we took a step closer to seeing what a Labour Government's foreign policy will look like: 10 of the best reports, podcasts, twitter threads speeches etc. that I’ve added to my Zotero database this past week.
Labour --- Chatham House: What is Labour’s foreign policy. Speech by David Lammy MP. Coverage included: FT: Labour vows to rebuild international reputation of ‘isolated’ UK. Shadow foreign secretary says repairing relations with the EU will be a priority if elected. And Politico: The Lammy Doctrine: The thinking behind Labour’s ‘restorative’ foreign policy. Labour has a new intellectual framework for British foreign policy and spearheading the charge is David Lammy. And New Statesman: Why Labour thinks it has solved the Brexit conundrum.If Keir Starmer’s party wins, expect a slew of specific UK-EU treaties to be negotiated.
Labour and Conservatives — BFPG: ‘Patient Diplomacy’ and ‘Reconnected Britain’: Distilling the Differences in Conservative and Labour Foreign Policy. Earlier this week, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy set out Labour’s vision for UK foreign policy, a vision which placed ‘reconnecting Britain’ at its heart, rebuilding relationships with our allies and forging new partnerships with emerging and developing nations. The parallels with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly’s speech last month were evident and it is clear that there remains a substantial degree of consensus between the two main political parties on many of the key issues facing UK foreign policy. But where do the fault lines between the two parties lie? What difference (if any) will the winner of the next election really make to UK foreign policy?
Brexit — UKICE: Where next? The future of the UK-EU relationship. Six and a half years since the Brexit referendum, UK relations with the EU have still not settled into a coherent and consistent pattern. Partly, this is because the process of leaving itself took so long. Partly, too, because there is much still to resolve, not least whether the treaties signed will be fully applied. This report examines the contours of that relationship. It assesses both where we have got to and how the relationship might evolve. Shorter comment piece by Anand Menon: Stable UK-EU relations will remain elusive in 2023 and beyond.
Brexit — Chatham House: UK-Europe relations finally head in right direction. As relations between the UK and its European neighbours become less contentious, plenty of opportunities exist to build on this positive momentum in 2023.
Brexit — FT: Eurostar boss says peak trains are left a third empty because of post-Brexit passport delays. Doubts raised over expansion despite return of profits and passengers after lifting of travel restrictions
Trade — Spectator: Why Britain will lose from America’s trade wars.
Trade --- CSIS: U.S.-UK Trade Agreement: Now Is the Time. Much has changed since the United States first launched trade agreement negotiations with the United Kingdom in 2019. Current geopolitical realities push the United States and the United Kingdom to rely less on China as an export market or as a source of imports, including inputs for manufacturing. In this new environment, bringing sluggish U.S.-UK trade agreement negotiations to a successful conclusion should be an immediate priority of the Biden administration.
Ukraine — The Guardian: There is war in Ukraine. We have sanctions. So why would the UK Treasury help Putin’s brutal ally? Claims that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the boss of the Wagner Group, a key part of Russia’s military machine, was aided in a libel action must be run to ground.
Defence — IAI: Naval Combat Systems: Developments and Challenges. Includes analysis of efforts by the Royal Navy to seize opportunities deriving from flexibility and lethality.
Iraq — Sir Lawrence Freedman: Iraq 20 Years on: The Story of the Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction.