This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation explores how Britain lost its trading edge and whether Brexit is to blame. This briefing note unpacks the UK’s export performance in the decade since the Brexit vote. In the five years since 2019, the period in which Britain formally left the EU, UK exports have...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform examines the impact of leaving the customs union and single market on UK trade. A new CER modelling exercise shows that Brexit has substantially reduced the UK’s trade with the EU, both in goods and services. We find that a customs union with the...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform argues that China’s export-driven growth model poses a challenge to Germany’s manufacturing economy. Germany’s industrial model is under mounting pressure from a second China shock – and Berlin can no longer afford to wait for the problem to correct itself. A new study by...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines why the ‘virtual water’ use hidden in supply chains is critical to sustainability. When food and agricultural products are traded internationally, the direct and indirect water use associated with that trade results in a ‘water footprint’ – reflecting not only the freshwater needed to grow a...

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines critical minerals crime and the lessons to be learnt from gold mining. The report investigates how to prevent organised crime from infiltrating critical mineral supply chains by applying lessons learned from the "cautionary example" of illegal gold mining

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how to strengthen the trilateral partnership and maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific. In August 2023, US president Joe Biden, Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol agreed a bold strategic vision for the development of trilateral cooperation between their countries. However,...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform looks at aligning productivity and security for resilient growth. Europe’s economic model is under increasing strain as productivity growth stalls and geopolitical competition intensifies. A new CER policy brief, ‘Resilient growth: Aligning productivity and security’, by Aslak Berg and Zach Meyers, argues that the...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines the key foreign policy challenges for the Lee government. Following the impeachment of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s new government faces significant challenges in stabilizing the country’s regional and global engagement – particularly in the context of a transactional US government and increasingly assertive...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform examines a reform agenda for the single market. For the last two decades, European economic growth has been lower than in peer countries. More than a year has passed since the landmark Draghi Report that helped establish a consensus that reform is needed. Yet...

This report from UK think tank Civitas aims to help the Government develop a clear policy for both its industrial and trade strategies. In this report, Phil Radford questions why the UK’s approach to trade has such little focus on our fastest growing exports and why debate is not better informed on the sectors and...

This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform focuses on trade, technology and geopolitics. The UK and the EU both recognise that China is a rival and that it is promoting its authoritarian model of governance globally. Neither has drawn the policy consequences from their analysis. They need to co-operate in showing...

This report from UK think tank Civitas examines the focus on ESG’s impact on businesses, workers and consumers. Many businesses nowadays engage in what has been coined ‘ethical’, or ‘woke’, capitalism. While ethical capitalism has a long history, over recent decades it has largely fallen under the remit of ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ (ESG) –...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines the importance of trade ‘rebalancing’ for Beijing’s strategic ambitions. If China hopes to cultivate closer economic and political links in the Global South by capitalizing, perhaps, on a backlash against US protectionism and foreign aid cuts, the task may be harder than it seems. In theory,...

This report from UK think tank IIED unpacks what the advisory opinion means for international investment law. In July 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its advisory opinion on the ‘Obligations of states in respect of climate change’. The opinion confirms that states have legally binding obligations to protect the climate system and...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House looks at why the current sanctions regime is failing and how to fix it. Russia is the world’s most sanctioned country, but the current regime of sanctions has largely failed to achieve its aim of constraining Russia’s ability to wage war. Following the Alaska meeting between US...

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...