This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society explores strategies for Five Eyes Alliance countries to diversify away from China for the importing of rare earth elements. This report explores strategies for Five Eyes Alliance countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to diversify away from China for...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how the US’s hardening China policy is seen in Beijing. The China–US relationship has no doubt deteriorated in recent years. Washington’s policy of containing China through the application of restrictions on certain goods and markets, as well as China’s own economic downturn, has increased the tension...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform examines where UK-EU relations might be under a Labour government. The election of a Labour government, led by Sir Keir Starmer, presents an opportunity to reset and strengthen the UK’s relations with the European Union. A new essay ‘Where might UK-EU relations be under...

This report from UK think tank Civitas analyses our food exports prospects and what can we learn from Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Norway. This report analyses prospects for food exports, especially Asia and North America. It analyses long-term trends in the UK’s trade in food. It identifies the products in which we have...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs discusses why a trophy ban would hurt conservation and development. The rationale for import prohibitions or restrictions is normally protectionism, e.g., protecting domestic industry from foreign competitors. The rationale for the prohibition on hunting trophy imports could better be described as ‘illiberalism.’ In its...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform argues that the EU should promote single market integration in capital markets, banking and other services. A new policy brief from the Centre for European Reform and the Bertelsmann Stiftung argues that the EU should promote single market integration in capital markets, banking and...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs offers a cost–benefit analysis of western colonialism. In recent years, we have seen a renewed interest in Britain’s imperialist past: the British Empire, the slave trade and the Caribbean slave labour plantations. More precisely, we have seen a revival of the idea that the...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House argues that Tanzania’s new foreign policy strategy must emphasize proactive engagement with regional institutions and on global issues. Tanzania has recently begun to re-emerge from a period of damaging isolationism under former president John Magufuli. This isolationism obstructed international investment and undermined the country’s credible history of...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how the sector has become entangled in local and transnational conflict. The sesame trade is no longer just a mainstay of local livelihoods in Ethiopia and Sudan. Amid civil war and territorial rivalry on both sides of the border, it now plays a central role in...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House looks at how importing countries can address water stress from global commodity production. A combination of climate change impacts and the production of water-intensive commodities, such as food, textiles and minerals, is exacerbating global water insecurity. Around 50 per cent of the water used to produce goods...

This report from UK think tank IIED argues that seafood should play a more prominent role in debates about food systems transformation in the UK. This paper argues that seafood should play a more prominent role in debates about food systems transformation in the UK. We discuss the connections between seafood and the broader food...

This report from UK think tank the Adam Smith Institute makes the case for the UK to join the Multi-Party Interim Appeal (MPIA) arbitration mechanism. This new paper makes the case for the UK to join the Multi-Party Interim Appeal (MPIA) arbitration mechanism, the alternative to the AB set up by the world’s leading economies...

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society will look at how strengthened UK-Taiwan ties can help maintain stable cross-strait relations. The success of the United Kingdom’s post-Brexit Indo-Pacific tilt and its security and economic interests throughout the entirety of the region are increasingly dependent on maintaining stable cross-Strait relations between Taiwan and...

This report from UK think tank RUSI explores mechanisms for the return of proceeds of corruption. In the report, Maria outlines how the amount of assets returned by destination countries to countries of origin represents only a minimal fraction of the total amount of proceeds lost to corruption. In early 2022, it was estimated that...

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines what risks China’s position in global supply chains poses to the physical supply of materials. The report examines what risks China’s position in global supply chains poses to the physical supply of materials, components and final goods in the battery and EV, solar, wind and electricity grid...

The growth and extent of world trade is staggering. In 1950, trade accounted for just 8.6% of world output (GDP). By 2008 it accounted for an astonishing 60% of world GDP, involving $20 trillion in goods and over $5 trillion in services. Despite setbacks — financial crises, wars (including Trump-style trade wars) and even pandemics...