Welcome to Global Strategy Forum
Global Strategy Forum is an open forum, which was founded in 2006 and which is dedicated to the promotion of fresh thinking and active debate on foreign affairs, defence and international security issues.
We are an independent, non-party political organisation.
We present commissioned work and we run a series of lectures and debates. Further details of our work are available by exploring the links to the left.
Please visit our events page for details of forthcoming events.
Dr Knox Chitiyo, Tony Baldry MP, Michael Ancram (GSF Chairman) and Dr Richard Cockett
Debate panellists
Tony Baldry MP, Dr Knox Chitiyo (Head of the Africa Programme at RUSI) and Dr Richard Cockett (Africa Editor at The Economist) took part in a GSF debate entitled 'Africa: A Continent Whose 'Time Has Come'?' The answer to the question was a qualified 'yes'. Dr Knox Chitiyo felt that Africa had now become part of the international system and was no longer a passive player and therefore needed to 'seize the moment'. Tony Baldry MP and Richard Cockett were more ambivalent. Richard Cockett, author of 'Sudan: Darfur and the Failure of an African State' spoke about the situation in Sudan and said it was a good example of all the negatives in Africa. Tony Baldry called for a new chapter to be opened in the narrative of development aid, both from the perspective of the donors and the recipicients, which focused on transparency and effective outcomes, particularly at a time when the UK public was sceptical of the ringfencing of international aid, a point which was reinforced by all three panellists. The audio transcript of the debate is available by clicking the link above.
Charles Farr
Director General of the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism at the Home Office
Charles Farr, Director General of the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism at the Home Office, was our July guest lecturer. Addressing the question, 'Counter Terrorism Strategy in the UK: Are We Winning?', he outlined the nature and structure of the security threat facing the UK, but pointed out that the lack of any structure is part of the threat. In answer to the question, he recognized that there had been success in disrupting the threat and preventing loss of life through terrorist attacks, but he was less optimistic about the extent to which the threat had been removed or reduced. This event took place under the Chatham House Rule and thus there is no transcript available.
Stephen King and Lord Lamont
Global Chief Economist at HSBC; Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990-1993)
Stephen King, the global chief economist at HSBC, spoke on the themes of his new book, 'Losing Control - The Emerging Threats to Western Prosperity' in an event chaired by GSF Advisory Board Member, the Rt Hon Lord Lamont of Lerwick (Chancellor of the Exchequer 1990-1993). Stephen King concluded that in an age of globalisation, there are two options for the west - either to 'grow old gracefully' and accept that the baton of economic growth has been passed to other parts of the world. Or, to try and disengage from globalisation. Yet while this desire might be understandable, he argues that the 'really big losers' from western disengagement would be the west itself, given that the extent to which the west has become dependent on the ongoing success of the emerging world 'strongly suggests that ultimately it is engagement rather than disengagement that will matter for the years ahead, no matter the fact that the west will be struggling to cope with all of the domestic implications of globalisation over the next few decades.'
Dr Shirin Akiner
Author of 'The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: A Networking Organisation for a Networking World'
Dr Shirin Akiner, Fellow of the Cambridge Central Asia Forum and Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, presented her new paper, 'The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation: A Networking Organisation for a Networking World', which was published by Global Strategy Forum in June 2010. In her lecture, she highlighted the main internal and external issues relating to the SCO and the extent to which it has the potential for further development, concluding that in the longer term, it has 'the potential to transform itself from a regional organisation, with a purely Eurasian focus, into an international body.'
Michael Ancram PC DL QC
Chairman - Global Strategy Forum
Michael Ancram comments on the reaction to the Israeli attack on the Gaza Flotilla, in particular the reaction to the response of the US and the UK, from the 10th Doha Forum, where he is a speaker.
The May Debate - Tuesday 18th May 2010
Dr Stefan Halper, Michael Ancram and Nigel Inkster
Dr Stefan Halper, Senior Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at Cambridge University and Nigel Inkster, Director of Transnational Threats and Political Risk at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, took part in a discussion prompted by the themes of Dr Halper’s new book, ‘The Beijing Consensus: How China’s Authoritarian Model Will Dominate the Twenty-First Century’. In his book, Dr Halper argues that China’s challenge to the West stems from its ‘transformative brand of capitalism' and an entirely different conception of the international community. He suggests that rather than promoting democracy through economic aid to the developing world, instead, through the policy of no-strings attached gifts and loans, China is building a new Beijing Consensus that will replace the so-called Washington Consensus. During the debate, Dr Halper was not altogether pessimistic that this alternative, authoritarian model would prove more popular to the developing world and that power would necessarily be diffused away from the West, but he believed it to be a warning to western policy-makers: ‘China promotes a form of authoritarian capitalism that discreetly confronts the post-war US-led liberal order and erodes western principles of governance….its success will diminish the principles on which our global standing rests'. He concluded that how the West addressed this challenge would answer the question of the extent to which we were content with this state of affairs. Nigel Inkster agreed with the analysis that China had emerged on the international stage far faster than might have been expected and in ways which might not have been expected, but he described this emergence as 'inchoate'. He questioned whether the promotion of western ideas and interests was an essential pre-requisite to the west’s survival and prosperity, particularly in view of the shortcomings of the Washington Consensus – as described by Stefan Halper - and its ‘wilful imposition of a one-size-fits-all approach and its failure to take account of historical and social contexts and different cultural backgrounds.’ He remained sceptical of the need to assert and sustain the primacy of western values and indeed, whether this ‘article of faith’ could in fact be fulfilled, but he agreed that there was a clear need to understand China ‘far better than we do now.’
Tuesday 23rd March, National Liberal Club
Victoria Clark, Dr Kristian Ulrichsen, Michael Ancram MP and Stephen Day
GSF hosted a discussion entitled 'Yemen and Somalia: a 'ticking time bomb'?' with panellists Victoria Clark (author of 'Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes'); Stephen Day, former Head of the Middle East Department, Ambassador to Qatar and Tunisia and Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Research Fellow at LSE Global Governance and Deputy Director of the Kuwait Research Programme on Development, Governance and Globalisation in the Gulf States. The debate was designed to address a number of questions including the scale of the security threat posed by both countries. Yemen, heralded by some as the next front in the War on Terror, was addressed in particular. The measures, including development measures, which the international community should consider to support both countries were discussed as well as how these efforts might produce real results. It was agreed that while there was clearly a terrorist flow of information and weapons between Yemen and Somalia, there were significant differences between the two countries, which ought to inform policies towards them. It was also suggested that framing international policy towards Yemen based solely on the potential terrorist threat could risk undermining efforts to stabilise the country and that the focus on maintaining a united Yemen might be misguided.
'Afghan Scenarios - A Nation in the Balance'
House of Lords, Monday 8th March 2010
Global Strategy Forum and the Windsor Energy Group hosted a seminar entitled 'Afghan Scenarios - A Nation in the Balance' in the House of Lords on Monday 8th March 2010. The seminar provided a series of expert perspectives, both on the present situation in Afghanistan and on the question of how it might be possible to withdraw from Afghanistan without leaving regional chaos and potential serious security consequences for the Middle East. The following speakers took part: Professor James C Clad, National Defense University, Washington DC; Professor Michael Clarke, Director, Royal United Services Institute; Anthony Fitzherbert, Consultant, Agriculture, Rural Affairs and Land Management; General The Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB LVO OBE, UK Chief of the Defence Staff 1997-2001; Adam Holloway MP, Member, Defence Select Committee; Professor Anatol Lieven, Department of War Studies, King's College London; and Andrew Wilson, News Presenter, Sky. The seminar was chaired by the Rt Hon Michael Ancram MP, Chairman of Global Strategy Forum and the Rt Hon The Lord Howell of Guildford, Chairman of the Windsor Energy Group.
General Sir Richard Dannatt GCB CBE MC
Chief of the General Staff 2006-2009
General Sir Richard Dannatt gave our second February lecture, speaking on the theme of the Challenges for Defence in the Next Decade. Referring to the fact that much had changed in the world since the last Strategic Defence Review in 1998, he said that we were now at a strategic crossroads, which required an extensive review of our place in the world. He said that the debate which the SDR framed should be policy-led and not financially-driven, but that careful calibration would be required to maintain a broad range of capabilities to the extent that is affordable. He advocated a move to a quadrennial or quinquennial system of Strategic Defence Reviews, which would provide a stable framework within which these fundamental issues could be addressed. In reference to Operation Moshtarak and the future for Afghanistan, he said that ‘tomorrow would be a very uncertain place if we do not succeed [in Afghanistan] today’ but he pointed to the need to place the operation in Afghanistan on a proper warlike footing. He concluded by paying tribute to the outstanding commitment and capability of the young men and women of the armed forces and said that the ‘challenge for policymakers over the next few months [was] to ensure that those same people can go on making the same kind of commitment in the best interests of the nation in the next decade and beyond.’
'Turkey's Role in an Emerging Network World'
House of Lords, Monday 8th February 2010
On Monday 8th February, Global Strategy Forum hosted a seminar on 'Turkey's Role in an Emerging Network World'. The seminar, which was the initiative of GSF Advisory Board Member Hüseyin Gün of Avicenna Capital, took place in the House of Lords. With the participation of a high level Turkish delegation, including HE Egemen Bagis, the Turkish State Minister for EU Affairs, the event provided a series of expert perspectives on how and where Turkey can bring her influence to bear effectively on the wider international scene, focusing on Turkey’s position as a hub connecting east and west, both strategically and politically. It explored the growing influence and role of Turkey, westwards in terms of its relationship with the EU but also eastwards, in terms of its relationship with the Middle East and the broader region and the wider, constructive role that Turkey can play in regional issues and beyond, in a period of rapid change. The seminar was chaired by the Rt Hon Michael Ancram MP, Chairman of Global Strategy Forum and speakers included: HE Egemen Bagis, Turkish State Minister for EU Affairs; Dominic Grieve QC MP, UK Shadow Justice Secretary; HE Kursad Tuzmen, Former State Minister and Chairman of External Affairs, Justice and Development Party; Rt Hon the Lord Howell of Guildford, Shadow Deputy Leader of the Lords and Shadow Minister for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs; HE Yasar Yakis, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Lord Wallace of Saltaire, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, House of Lords, Spokesperson for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs; Suat Kiniklioglu MP; AK Party Deputy Chairman of External Affairs, Chairman of the Turkish-British Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group; Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, Liberal Democrat MEP (South East Region) 1999-2009; Dr Ibrahim Kalin, Chief Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey; Lord Hannay of Chiswick, GCMG, CH, Ambassador and UK Permanent Representative to the UN (1990-1995) and Special Representative for Cyprus (1996-2003); Nursuna Memecan MP, Member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and AK Party Deputy Chairman of Communications; and Mehmet Öğütçü, Director, International Government and Corporate Affairs, BG Energy Holding Group. A summary of the proceedings is available by clicking above and the proceedings will be published in full at a later date.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles KCMG LVO
Rt Hon Field Marshal The Lord Inge, KG, GCB, DL, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles KCMG LVO, Michael Ancram MP
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, the Foreign Secretary's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was Global Strategy Forum's second guest lecturer in January. Speaking on 'Britain in Afghanistan' under the Chatham House Rule, he gave a compelling prediction of how success could be achieved in Afghanistan and what that success might look like.
Ambassador Chas W Freeman, Jr
US Ambassador (retired)
Ambassador Chas W Freeman, Jr, gave Global Strategy Forum's first lecture in 2010. Entitled 'China's Challenge to American Hegemony', his lecture provided a succinct and perceptive analysis, which drew on his many years of expertise to elucidate the Chinese perspective on some of the key areas of divergence with the west, as well on its attitude to hegemony and the responsibilities of global leadership. He concluded that 'the world in future will be more "democratic" and, likely, more muddled than in the past because many countries, not just the United States or China, will share power in it. There will be ample opportunities for countries with trusted relationships with Washington and Beijing to influence how they participate in global affairs. There will be no hegemon, and there will be no "G-2".
Michael Ancram PC DL QC
Chairman - Global Strategy Forum
At Global Strategy Forum’s Christmas Drinks Party on 8th December, GSF's Chairman, Michael Ancram, launched his new pamphlet, ‘Turkey: a New Bridge in a Network World?’ The pamphlet examines the potential of Turkey and where she might bring her influence to bear most effectively on the wider international scene, both in the region and more broadly. In it, Michael Ancram argues that Turkey is ideally placed to play a leading role in a network world and to be a force for good in the Middle East and wider region as well as in Europe and around the Mediterranean. He concludes that Turkey, if it so chooses, can become a 'real and vibrant bridge in a world that needs bridging more than ever'.
Sir Richard Dalton KCMG
UK Ambassador to Iran (2002-2006)
On 24th November, Sir Richard Dalton addressed GSF on 'Iran in 2009: how much has changed?' In a meticulous analysis, he drew on his expert knowledge of the region and the insights gained from his experience as the UK Ambassador to Iran from 2002-2006, concluding that in our policy towards Iran, we need to 'make haste slowly on sanctions and we need to continue firmly, coupled with non-interference, on Iran's internal problems.'
FW de Klerk
Former President of the Republic of South Africa
On Monday 16th November, Global Strategy Forum was honoured to welcome F W de Klerk, former President of the Republic of South Africa and Nobel Laureate. In the month which marks the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Mr De Klerk reflected on this momentous period in world affairs. His insights illuminated the ramifications of this event on a global scale and took the story of the Fall of the Berlin Wall well beyond its usual European context. He concluded that in South Africa 'the fall of the Berlin Wall showed how deeply we are influenced by events on the global stage - and helped us to break down the walls between our own people.'
Lord Howell of Guildford
Lecture - Tuesday October 27th 2009
Lord Howell opened GSF's 2009-2010 lecture series with a fascinating speech, entitled 'Britain's Foreign Policy: 'adamant for drift?', in which he argued that in this period of great change and uncertainty, it is time for a clean break and a new strategic direction in our foreign policy. Just as Winston Churchill described Britain's foreign policy as 'adamant for drift' in the 1930s, he fears that so the same could be said of our foreign policy today. The transcript of his lecture is available by clicking above.
Debate - Tuesday 14th July 2009
Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, the Rt Hon Malcolm Rifkind QC MP, the Rt Hon Michael Howard QC MP
Ambassador Tom Pickering and Michael Howard discussed the question of whether the use of torture could ever be justified. In a cogent and detailed contribution, Ambassador Tom Pickering concluded that it could not and while Michael Howard agreed substantively with Ambassador Pickering, he argued for the need for a better definition of what constituted torture in international law and he questioned what would happen in the extreme hypothesis of the 'ticking time bomb' scenario. There followed a lively debate from the audience and the chairman, Malcolm Rifkind, concluded that it had been a fascinating exchange and invited a show of hands at the end, revealing that the vast majority of the audience were against the use of torture in any circumstances.
Lecture - Monday 13th July 2009
The Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes and Michael Ancram MP, GSF chairman
In his lecture, Lord Patten gave a comprehensive overview of what is happening in China today. In response to the question of whether the 21st century belongs to China, Lord Patten said that while he admired what China's achievements, he did not see an equivalency to 19th century Bismarckian Germany. In his view, the US remains the world's sole superpower, while increasingly understanding that its post-war period of domination is at an end and that in order to solve any serious problem in the world today, it will have to work with China and India and to some extent Brazil and others as well. Lord Patten concluded that he did not see the future as being one 'in which China is going to have to work out how it can work with the US in order to exercise global domination. The argument is still the other way round. One of the principle jobs that America has, and Europe as well, in the next years is to persuade China that as a great economic power with considerable political influence, it has a vested interest in stability.'
