Need to Know is a book of fiction that attempts to make sense of open-ended and complex policy issues in a non-linear way. The rationale of the project is that through stories people can better engage with, and think through, complex policy issues. By using a narrative framework the aim is to make foreign policy debates more accessible to a wider audience and to illustrate the relevance of foreign policy to our everyday lives.

Need to Know is a reflection of The Foreign Policy Centre’s commitment to challenge the traditional forms that think tanks have used to explore policy. Unlike traditional policy reports which focus on giving recommendations, Need to Know demonstrates the ambiguous consequences of many policy challenges in practice. Need to Know was published jointly with Liverpool John Moores University.