Effective peace and security approaches for the UK in a volatile world

As the UK’s new government approaches one year in office, it has had an opportunity to undertake initial reviews of defence, foreign and development policies. At the same time, it faces dilemmas in how to position itself and work effectively, in a time of intense global volatility. In every region, the rise of populism, polarisation, nationalism and authoritarianism is fuelling instability. Rapid changes are problematizing some of the fundamental assumptions underpinning UK foreign and security policy, and making progressive internationalism seem ever more challenging. This complicates the strategic outlook for the UK, posing challenging questions as to how to make its peace and security approaches and partnerships truly effective and sustainable. In this context, this event explores how the UK’s strategies, partnerships and engagement in troubled regions can best serve the UK’s interest in preventing conflict and promoting lasting peace and security.

Objectives 

• Provide a discreet space for evidence-based exchange between those in strategic roles and experts drawn from academia, thinktanks and practitioner organisations.

• Identify threats and opportunities for the UK within the current volatile international political and security landscape

• Identify paths and approaches through which the UK can continue to prevent conflict, manage crises and promote lasting peace and accountable security

Sessions

New threats and priorities for promoting stability in a volatile world:

The multilateral system is struggling to respond to high levels of conflict: an increasing range of actors are violating international law with impunity, conflicts are becoming more complex and harder to resolve, and underlying trends in governance, inequality and the environment are increasingly disturbing. Amid the ascendancy of populism and nationalism, the perspectives of European and NATO allies are shifting, and new divisions are emergingbetween them. Meanwhile, members of the BRICS+ and other powers are increasingly asserting their interests. In all these ways, instability is intensifying and international relations are rapidly transforming. In this context, this session asks:

• How are the challenges and opportunities for safeguarding UK security and well being, and promoting peace and stability overseas, evolving in 2025?

• What adjustments need to be made to the thinking advanced in key UK security strategy and policy reviews (such as the IR (2021), the IRRefresh (2023), the SDR, etc) – and prioritised in the UK’s new National Security Strategy – in light of these evolutions?

Promoting peace in fragmented conflict settings:

Crises in a wide range of settings, from Burkina Faso, to the DRC, Gaza, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan are proving hard to resolve and transform. In the wake of multilateral dysfunction and geopolitical division, such conflicts are growing more complex. A wider range of actors is seeking to engage in mediation, and providing stabilisation and security assistance, whose approaches do not necessarily align with those of the UK (for example regarding impartiality, inclusion, legitimate governance, corruption, gender equality and respect for human rights and IHL). In this context, where windows of opportunity for peace arise, such as in Syria or Israel-Palestine, the UK may have options to influence, support and share burdens with powerful but not necessarily like-minded players. This session therefore asks:

• What are the UK’s most promising entry points for preventing and resolving conflict, and promoting peace, in fragmented settings?

• How should the UK’s tools and approaches be evolving to respond effectively to fragmentation?

• What are the challenges and opportunities for working with influential, but not necessarily like-minded, partners to prevent and resolve conflict and promote peace?

The future of democratic and accountable security:

The UK has long been engaged in providing security assistance in unstable settings and promoting security sector governance and reform, but the sector has reached something of a crossroads. The OECD is working to update its guidance on security reform concepts and approaches, supported by like-minded members, and NATO is exploring how it could promote more democratic security governance. Yet at the same time, security assistance has achieved at best mixed results in many stabilisation and state-building settings over recent decades. Spending on peace, human rights, democracy and bottom up approaches to improving security are dwindling; and military spending is increasing, with security partnerships increasingly oriented to containing instability and controlling migration. Geopolitical competition for influence with security partners is likewise affecting the strategies and behaviours of the players involved. In this context, this session asks:

• How much of a priority is inclusive, democratic and accountable security governance for the UK in the immediate and longer term?

• How can the UK avoid doing harm, and balance stability and human security priorities,in its future security sector engagement?

• How can the hard won lessons of past efforts be effectively integrated into the norms and approaches of players like the OECD and NATO?

Please note that this event is invite only