A Greater Britain

Following Brexit, nestled in between an apparently unmoored America and a Europe that is drifting away, buffeted by the assaults on democracy and human rights waged by Russia and China, the UK looks seriously at risk of heading for diplomatic isolation, while also forced to accommodate China, Russia and other authoritarian states as it seeks to find its place in a polarised and unstable world. The choices the UK will have to make may become even more stark as the alternative sources of global authority, such as the UN, lose their influence. This, combined with the domestic fixation of reducing migration, runs the risk of producing a poor, insular, irrelevant state with little international credibility. However, the UK's position is not beyond hope. Outside of the EU, and in a world where most other countries remain wary of the US's intentions and influence as a great power, there is a need for some actor to try to bring together the democracies of the world around issues such as climate change, science, innovation, the refugee crisis and terrorism. An independent UK can, and should, take a lead in these efforts, as it now finds itself free from the need to conform to the EU consensus mechanisms. But first, this cannot be piecemeal, we need a grand strategy, and not one just shared among a narrow foreign policy elite but one that can command wider domestic support. In this remarkable work of foreign policy analysis Dr Azeem Ibrahim shows Britain the pathway back to global relevance and success.