This public zoom event is part of the Foreign Policy Centre’s ongoing Finding Britain’s role in a changing world project responding to the UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. It will comprise a short keynote speech from Tom Tugendhat MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, expert responses and an audience Q&A session. The event will take stock of the deliberations around the Government’s Integrated ...

When the coronavirus outbreak hit Europe in early 2020, Italy and Spain were the first countries facing a serious health crisis. Images of overcrowded hospitals and lockdowns in Lombardy, Catalonia and Madrid symbolised the initial stages of the pandemic outside China and would soon be followed by similar scenes in various parts of the world, including the UK. This Aston Centre for Europe and Foreign Policy Centre webinar will explore ...

Multiculturalism and diaspora relations have long been important issues but in the context of Brexit and a raging world pandemic there are growing concerns that issues facing some newly emerging economic Diasporas in the UK may be falling off the political radar. This is now particularly true in the case of the Romanian diaspora in the UK. This Foreign Policy Centre event will ask and try to answer a number ...

Investigative journalists from across the world have repeatedly exposed how financial and legal systems – including those in the UK and its overseas jurisdictions – have been abused to facilitate corruption by their ruling elites, opaque businesses and criminal enterprises. They have often done this in the face of significant challenges to their own safety and security. This event, held as part of the Foreign Policy Centre’s ‘Unsafe for Scrutiny’ ...

Recent developments, from Brexit to COVID-19, have serious ramifications for the UK’s live music industry, which faces a series of stark challenges. The combination of event cancellations due to COVID-19 and potential disruptions to supply chains and free movement following Brexit, risks damaging the nation’s interdependent local economies and local music ecologies. Even beyond these pressing problems, the ‘cultural pushback’ from perceptions of Britain post-Brexit could further limit future opportunities ...

This Foreign Policy Centre and Justice for Journalists Foundation event seeks to examine the crucial role played by journalists in covering the protest movement in Belarus and the human rights abuses being perpetrated by the Lukashenko Government. It will seek to examine the role played by journalists, bloggers and ordinary citizens of Belarus in documenting and sharing the situation on the ground. It will highlight the role played by independent ...

This webinar, hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre in partnership with Freedom House and the University of Exeter, highlights recent trends on Transnational Repression in the age of Globalization. Drawing from the Freedom House Special Report, Perspectives on “Everyday” Transnational Repression in an Age of Globalization, the event will examine how authoritarian states exercise influence and maintain control over their populations abroad, from exceptional measures such as assassination to everyday modes ...

This webinar is being held to examine findings of a new Aston Centre for Europe and Foreign Policy Centre publication Religion and Forced Displacement in the Eastern Orthodox World. The event and publication will examine the relationship between religion-state relations, forced displacement, religious diplomacy and human security in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, with a focus on eight countries in the region, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. ...

This Foreign Policy Centre event will debate the findings of a new essay collection – ‘Spotlight on Uzbekistan’ – that examines in detail the evolution of Uzbekistan under the presidency of Shavkat Mirziyoyev since late 2016. It assesses the depth, breadth and potential longevity of the much vaunted reform programme, looking at what has worked and where there is still more to do. The event and publication will examine issues ...

This virtual seminar hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre in partnership with the SEPAD (Sectarianism, Proxies & De-sectarianisation) project at the Richardson Institute for Peace at the University of Lancaster will examine the future of the Middle East in 2020 and beyond. The role of the US in the region is increasingly contested and Washington’s key allies – Saudi Arabia and other GCC states – have felt increasingly pressure from ...