Before everything was swept aside by the imperatives of combating the Covid-19 pandemic, this Government had placed at the core of its mission the ambition to build a ‘global Britain’. That phrase covers a host of subjects, not least our trading relationships with the EU and the rest of the world. But few things have […]
Throughout his presidency, Donald Trump has embraced autocrats and insulted allies. His decision to withdraw almost 12,000 US troops from Germany makes a perverse sort of sense only in that light, for it doesn’t have even a passing strategic rationale. President Trump’s purported justification is Germany’s failure to meet Nato targets for defence spending. “We […]
“Geography is the most fundamental factor in foreign policy because it is the most permanent.” -Nicholas J. Spykman, The Geography of the Peace, 1944 A forgotten genius One of the great glories of my job as a political risk analyst is to bring great intellectual treasures that have lain submerged for far too long to […]
China’s rise as a global power is reflected, first and foremost in its expanding economic prowess and aspirations to take a leading position in next generation technology. Nowhere is this clearer than in the advances it has made over the last decades in developing a globally competitive defence industry. The origins of China’s defence industry […]
President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw nearly 10,000 US troops from Germany provoked yet another mini crisis in transatlantic relations. True to what has become a ritual in the Trump years, America’s European allies have expressed first their dismay with the decision and then their continuing commitment to the transatlantic alliance. “The fact is the […]
CapX Weekly Briefing It’s been a week of two wars – one metaphorical, the other almost literal. At home, the culture ‘war’ continues apace, with statues falling and absurd debates about the Prime Ministerial plane being painted red, white and blue. Abroad, the most serious conflict on the Indo-China border since 1962 led to dozens […]
“The Chinese government wants me to say that for many centuries Tibet has been part of China. Even if I make that statement, many people would just laugh. And my statement will not change past history. History is history.” –The Dalai Lama From the Dalai Lama to my grandmother The Dalai Lama is right. At […]
It’s the idea that just won’t die. Even in the midst of a pandemic there are calls to bring back national service. According to the Times, the Ministry of Defence has even commissioned a report into it. There are several good reasons to hope this particular policy renovation falls swiftly by the wayside. First, it […]
Bill Dod, an anchor for the RT UK News channel, recently posted on Twitter a clip of himself and his colleagues clapping for carers. Dod’s career experience includes stints as a quiz show host on the Carlton Food Network and a location reporter on the Travel Channel, and he may not have quite grasped the […]
Cyber security is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Companies selling everything from encryption devices to internet firewalls and network security systems are popping up all over the place. According to Statista, by 2023 the global market for defences against cyber attack and online theft – the so-called ‘security as a service’ […]
Labour in office has accomplished vital things for Britain’s national security. Out of government, its record is more patchy and it’s had its share of fools. Writing in 1938, the former party leader George Lansbury wrote: “[T]o live, Germany needs peace as much as any nation in the world. No one understands this better than […]
“My Government’s priority” the Queen told us yesterday “is to deliver the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union”. Let that sink in. For years, those of us who advocated leaving the EU were frequently demonised by the mainstream media. We were, it was routinely implied, extremist – indeed, xenophobic! – for wanting Britain to […]
As a tumultuous year draws to a close, we’re looking back at some of the most insightful interviews CapX has conducted over the last 12 months. Robert D Kaplan is widely-regarded as one of the world’s leading thinkers on foreign policy, defence and geopolitics. He is the author of 18 books, including The Revenge of Geography and […]
In the face of growing security challenges to Europe – whether from an antagonistic Russia, an unstable Middle East or cyberwar and terrorism – there is a growing recognition that enhanced cooperation between the EU and Nato will be key to an effective response. Calibrating such cooperation to respond to perceived common threats, however, has […]
As Western leaders meet in London to mark 70 years since Nato’s foundation, the future of the Alliance is the subject of fierce debate. Emmanuel Macron has stirred things up with his recent comments about Nato’s “brain death” – a claim that has been flatly rejected by Angela Merkel. The German Chancellor told the Reichstag […]
With the support of the Atlas Network, CapX is publishing a series of essays, podcasts and interviews on the theme of Illiberalism in Europe, looking at the different threats to liberal economies and societies across the continent, from populism to protectionism and corruption. Earlier this year we spoke to the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author […]
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