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1. The Diversity of Ethnic Minority Londoners

Author:
Farah Hussain
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
What do ethnic minority Londoners actually think about politics, society, racism in the UK, and life in the Capital? Much has been written about the difficulty of accurately polling ethnic minority voters in the UK. Given the Mile End Institute is situated in one of the most diverse boroughs in the country, we were determined to overcome these difficulties to find out what ethnic minority Londoners actually think about politics, society, racism, and life in the Capital.
Topic:
Politics, Public Opinion, Minorities, Ethnicity, Diversity, Society, and Racism
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and London

2. A History of British Elections with Iain Dale

Author:
Robert Saunders, Iain Dale, Philip Cowley, and Jennifer Davey
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Wednesday 10 April 2024, the Mile End Institute celebrated the launch of Iain Dale's new book, British General Election Campaigns, 1830-2019. Featuring an essay on every general election since 1830, the book ranges across every aspect of electoral history: from landslides and hung parliaments to corruption, electoral violence and the birth of the modern campaign. With a cast ranging from William Gladstone and Sir Robert Peel to Margaret Thatcher and Boris Johnson, it explores how elections are won and lost, how they have changed over time, and what lessons can be drawn for the present.
Topic:
History, Elections, and Domestic Politics
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

3. In Conversation with Sir David Lidington

Author:
David Lidington
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
On Tuesday 26 March, the Mile End Institute welcomed the former Conservative MP and Cabinet minister, Sir David Lidington, to @QMUL. Sir David was elected as the Conservative MP for Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire from 1992 and retired from the House of Commons at the 2019 general election. In addition to being the longest-serving Minister for Europe, occupying the post throughout David Cameron's premiership, Sir David served as the Leader of the House of Commons, Secretary of State for Justice, and Minister for the Cabinet Office in Theresa May's administration. As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between January 2018 and July 2019, Sir David was widely recognised to be Theresa May's de facto Deputy Prime Minister. In a wide-ranging conversation with Dr Robert Saunders five years on from the collapse of Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement, Sir David reflected on his early life in London, working as Douglas Hurd's special adviser at the Home Office and the Foreign Office during Margaret Thatcher and John Major's governments, and the start of his own parliamentary career after 1992. They also explored his work in government after 2010, the Brexit debate which dominated his last three years in Parliament, and the state of the Conservative Party today.
Topic:
Elections, Domestic Politics, and Conservative Party
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

4. The ‘official’ histories of Australian and British intelligence: lessons learned and next steps

Author:
Chris Taylor
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
Abstract:
Unclassified, official histories of ‘secret’ intelligence organisations, for public readership, seem a contradiction in terms. These ‘official’ works are commissioned by the agencies in question and directly informed by those agencies’ own records, thus distinguishing them from other, outsider historical accounts. But while such official intelligence histories are relatively new, sometimes controversial, and often challenging for historians and agencies alike, the experiences of the Australian and British intelligence communities suggest they’re a promising development for scholarship, maintaining public trust and informed public discourse, and more effective functioning of national security agencies. Furthermore, these histories remain an ongoing project for Australia’s National Intelligence Community (NIC).
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Intelligence, and National Security
Political Geography:
Britain, Australia, and Australia/Pacific

5. Episode 6: The 100 Years' War on Palestine

Author:
Sahar Aziz and Rashid Khalidi
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
This episode delves into one hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, while backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age. Host Sahar Aziz (https://saharazizlaw.com/ ) and this week’s guest, historian and distinguished Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi, will discuss the origins and consequences of this non stop aggression against the Palestinians – which is also the subject of his latest book: ”The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917-2017.
Topic:
History, Zionism, Colonialism, and Palestinians
Political Geography:
Britain, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

6. Analyzing How the Tools of the British Far-Right Have Evolved

Author:
FARAS
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Future for Advanced Research and Studies (FARAS)
Abstract:
Since July 30, 2024, several British cities and towns have been gripped by a wave of far-right violence described as the worst since World War II. This outbreak followed the killing of three girls in a knife attack at a children's party in Southport, northwest Britain. The violence involved a series of criminal and inflammatory actions in what appear to be coordinated efforts to thwart immigration and intimidate minorities in Britain. This reflects the British far-right's ability to utilize and even evolve its traditional tools to adapt to the current context and available resources.
Topic:
Immigration, Violence, Far Right, and Civil Unrest
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

7. Governing in Hard Times: Urgent Questions for the Centre-Left

Author:
Colm Murphy and Farah Hussain
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
Leading speakers from politics, policymaking, and academia provide Starmer and his team with not only questions that they must address ahead of next year’s likely election, but also some potential answers.
Topic:
Government, Public Policy, Labour Party, and Keir Starmer
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

8. The West, Israel and Settler Colonization of Palestine with Professor Prof. Joseph Massad

Author:
Joseph Massad
Publication Date:
12-2023
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Center for Security, Race and Rights (CSRR), Rutgers University School of Law
Abstract:
In this pivotal lecture, Professor Massad will delve into the intricate history of Western colonial intervention in Palestine, exploring the events that shaped the region both before and after the establishment of Israel. This lecture offers a comprehensive understanding of Israel's ongoing conflict with the Palestinian people, framed within the broader historical context of Western racism and its role in supporting and enabling these tensions.
Topic:
History, Colonialism, Settler Colonialism, Racism, and Palestinians
Political Geography:
Britain, Middle East, Israel, Palestine, and United States of America

9. Where Does the Money Go? An Analysis of Revenues in the GB Power Sector During the Energy Crisis

Author:
Serguey Maximov, Paul Drummond, Phil McNally, and Michael Grubb
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET)
Abstract:
The gas crisis has fed through to a huge impact on wholesale electricity prices in Britain. We use hourly price and generation data to estimate the impact on associated revenues to different types of generators. Given the extent of forward contracting, we complement simple results based on the day-ahead prices (“Case 1”) with a more realistic case based on a representative, technology-specific assumptions on forward contracts (“Case 2”). We estimate that revenues to GB generators rose by almost £30bn, from about £20.5bn/yr (pre- Covid) to £49.5bn in 2022. About 70% of this accrued to gas generators (from about £6bn/yr to £19bn) and renewable generators with Renewable Obligation Certification (from £7.7bn to £15.5bn). There are various indications that the increase in revenues to gas plants significantly exceeded the rise in their input costs, and no reason to think the generating cost of these renewables significantly increased. Nuclear, and some other biomass and renewables also benefited. We find that the Electricity Generation Levy, introduced in Jan 2023, would have had limited impact on these numbers if it had existed in 2022 and is likely to have less impact in 2023. Finally, we discuss reasons and potential implications of the findings.
Topic:
Economics, Environment, Money, Energy Crisis, and Revenue
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

10. Robert Maxwell’s Expectations Gap: Regulation and Reputation in the British Communications Industry, 1981-91

Author:
Charlie Harris
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Case Study
Institution:
Oxford Centre for Global History
Abstract:
During Robert Maxwell’s turbulent lifetime, the world knew him as one of the most successful businessmen in Britain, presiding over a publishing and media empire in direct competition with that of Rupert Murdoch. In 1991, Robert Maxwell died – at which point the world discovered that he was, in fact, far beyond bankrupt. As banks called in their huge loans, accountants found that his empire boasted £2 billion in debt. When he drowned, various auditors and authorities were close to catching him in an enormous fraud. Maxwell had stolen around £460 million from his employees’ pension funds and committed extensive stock fraud in order to manipulate the share prices of his empire. Accusations of fraud and mismanagement dogged Maxwell’s career, but to little effect. Beginning with a single publishing house, he built a media empire. His rivalry with Rupert Murdoch – and perhaps his emotional state, which was notoriously volatile and competitive – drove him to expand at an unsustainable pace, which he supported with confidence trickery and enormous loans. His debts quickly outstripped his assets. Desperately scrambling to repay the loans, he turned to stock fraud and his employees’ pension funds. Still desperate for capital six months before his death, Maxwell floated his largest-ever venture – Mirror Group Newspapers – which successfully attracted £250 million in investment, despite the destitution of its parent company. Public autopsies concluded that the blame lay not just with Maxwell, but with advisers, regulators, and complicit financial institutions. Maxwell killed himself (though some still speculate he was murdered) shortly before a scheduled meeting that would have uncovered his fraud. Maxwell did not leave his family destitute, but they no longer had immediate access to the lifestyle to which they had become accustomed. His sons continued working in the City of London. His daughter, Ghislaine Maxwell, continued to circulate in high society. Her crimes are now better known than her father’s; she is famous for her work as Jeffrey Epstein’s right-hand woman, procuring victims (often under-age) for Epstein’s “prostitution ring” (something of a misnomer, as the term implies consent). Both scandals implicated some of the most powerful figures of their day, and in both cases, th
Topic:
Communications, History, Capitalism, Industry, and Robert Maxwell
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

11. Britain, Germany, and the Rise of Competitive Virtue Signaling

Author:
Roderick Parkes
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Abstract:
In 2016, British and German officials were clear: they wanted quickly to put Brexit behind them and cooperate on big ticket items like the international rule of law. Now, in 2022, the pair in fact seem to be competing more than they cooperate. Germany wants to shine in comparison with Britain, and the UK sees advantages for its own standing if Germany falls short. This “competitive virtue signaling” defines Germany and the UK’s post-Brexit rivalry, and – oddly – might lead to tighter relations.
Topic:
European Union, Brexit, Rivalry, Cooperation, and Competition
Political Geography:
Britain, Europe, and Germany

12. Labor Market Impact of Immigration in the European Union

Author:
Dong-Hee Joe
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)
Abstract:
Immigration is one of the factors often considered as the causes of Brexit. Researchers find evidences that regions with more immigrants from the new member states of the European Union (EU hereinafter) in eastern Europe tended to vote more in favor of Brexit in the 2016 referendum. Similar relations between the size of immigrant population and anti-immigration attitudes or far-right voting are found in other richer EU member states. A common explanation for this relation is the concern that immigrants negatively affect the outcome in the host labor market. Immigration is drawing attention in Korea too. Although immigrants' share in population is still substantially smaller in Korea than in the EU, its increase is noticeable. Also, certain industries in Korea are known to be already heavily reliant on immigrant labor. Recently, as entry into the country was tightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, firms and farms are reported to have faced a disruption in production. This trend of increasing presence of immigrants in population and in the labor market, vis-à-vis the low fertility rate and rapid aging in Korea, is raising interest and concern on the socioeconomic impact of immigration. To offer some reference for the debates related to immigration in Korea, KIEP researchers (Joe et al. 2020 and Joe and Moon 2021) look at the EU, where immigrants' presence was much higher from much earlier on, and where the greater heterogeneity among the immigrants allows for richer analyses. This World Economy Brief presents some of their findings that are salient for Korea.
Topic:
Immigration, European Union, Brexit, and Labor Market
Political Geography:
Britain, Europe, Asia, and Korea

13. The Unpredictable Course of Naval Innovation – The Guns of HMS Thunderer

Author:
Ben Lombardi
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies
Abstract:
In January 1879, a muzzle-loading gun aboard HMS Thunderer, one of the Royal Navy’s most powerful warships, exploded. A parliamentary investigation determined that the accident occurred because of human error brought about by a highly innovative, but complicated, loading mechanism. Given earlier unsatisfactory experience with early breech-loading guns, contemporary naval engagements and expectations of the future nature of conflict at sea, retention of muzzle-loaders seemed a reasonable course of action. Vast sums were, therefore, spent in ensuring that Britain’s navy had the biggest and most powerful of that type of ordnance. But the explosion and other advances in gun design meant that muzzle-loaders were a dead end, and the incident on Thunderer became the impetus for the Royal Navy to adopt breech-loaders. This incident shines light upon the thinking within the Royal Navy at the time regarding advanced guns. But it also underscores the uncertainty and unpredictability that is inevitably attached to rapid innovation by a large military institution such as the Royal Navy was in the late-19th century. This story is highly relevant to force development considerations today because in any era of continuous technological change, mistakes are inevitable and their expectation should be accommodated within planning.
Topic:
Military Strategy, Military Affairs, Navy, and Maritime
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

14. Looking Beyond England: Slavery, Settler Colonialism and the Development of Industrial Capitalism

Author:
Paula Reisdorf
Publication Date:
06-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Global Political Economy, University of Sussex
Abstract:
This paper examines the debates surrounding industrial capitalism’s origins, critiquing the Eurocentrism in the Political Marxist approach. Instead, using a dialectical framework, I argue that the transition from agrarian to industrial capitalism in Britain required the existence of slavery and settler colonialism in the New World. The reason for this is threefold: Firstly, the removal of surplus populations either to colonies or domestically by employing them in colony- related industries was necessary to avoid stagnation in capitalist development. Secondly, the cheapening of basic commodities leading to a reduction in wages (i.e. relative surplus value extraction) in Britain necessitated enslaved labour in the New World. Thirdly, British industrialisation itself required settler colonialism and slavery because of: 1) the importation of slave-produced raw materials that were manufactured in Britain, 2) the exportation of manufactured products to settler colonies in the Americas, 3) the investment into industry by slaveowners and 4) the credit provision by banks that were tightly linked to the slave trade. I, therefore, conclude by suggesting that taking seriously the links between capitalism and slavery/colonialism could unify post-colonialism and Marxism by demonstrating the interconnectedness between post-colonialism’s principal object of analysis – colonialism – and Marxism’s main object of analysis – capitalism.
Topic:
Post Colonialism, Socialism/Marxism, Capitalism, Slavery, Colonialism, Settler Colonialism, and Eurocentrism
Political Geography:
Britain and Global Focus

15. Imperial Mecca: An Interview with Prof. Michael Low

Author:
Michael Low and Mahdi Chowdhury
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The Toynbee Prize Foundation
Abstract:
The hajj—that is, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca—is a pillar of faith for Muslims, but in the late nineteenth century, it was also a legal, epidemiological, and imperial frontier. In his long-anticipated Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj, Michael Christopher Low offers an account how that “very heart of Islam”—Mecca and the Hijaz—came to straddle “two imperial worlds.” Imperial Mecca charts how the British Empire came to challenge Ottoman imperial legitimacy and, subsequently, affect its pilgrimage administration, its relationship to non-Ottoman Muslims, and inspire administrative anxieties around the semi-autonomous province of the Hijaz. Since his widely-read 2008 article, “Empire and the Hajj,” Low has been a leading contributor in the now flourishing field of hajj studies. Based on archives largely based in Istanbul and London, Imperial Mecca consolidates nearly fifteen years of research, reflection, and labour and reasserts an understudied “Ottoman sense of space, place, population, environment, and territory back [into] our understanding of the transimperial hajj.” Michael Christopher Low is an Assistant Professor of History at Iowa State University and, presently, a Senior Humanities Research Fellow at NYU Abu Dhabi. Along with the publication of Imperial Mecca, he is also the co-editor of the recently published volume, The Subjects of Ottoman International Law. In our interview, we discuss—among many topics—Low’s intellectual and biographical journey as a historian, Ottoman archives and historiography, and the present and future of hajj studies.
Topic:
Imperialism, Islam, Religion, History, Ottoman Empire, and British Empire
Political Geography:
Britain, Mecca, Arabian Peninsula, and Indian Ocean

16. Great Britain and Africa: Boris Johnson's Strategic Reversals

Author:
François Gaulme
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institut français des relations internationales (IFRI)
Abstract:
In 2020-2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson undertook to fundamentally change the operational mode and strategy of relations between the United Kingdom and the African continent bequeathed by his predecessors since 1997. Great Britain and Africa : Boris Johnson's Strategic Reversals He first put an end to the autonomy and power of the great Department for International Development (DfID), by merging it with the Foreign Office. Deciding to make the granting of aid political, he also reduced its amount on the grounds of the recession hitting the country but against British legislation itself. His strategy for external deployment, adopted in March 2021 and based primarily on an “Indo-Pacific tilt”, has marginalised the relationship with Africa to which Theresa May had wanted to give new impetus in the perspective of the Brexit in 2018. While taking up her concept of “Global Britain”, her successor now seems to want to limit ties with Africa to business relations, highly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as minimal participation in security efforts on the continent. This note analyses such reversals in a historical perspective of the end of a relational cycle. It concludes that Boris Johnson’s very personal policy towards Africa is too reductive not to be amended. In particular on aid and fundamental rights, it neglects the complexity of British positions towards this continent. By reaffirming the strength of the strategic relationship with the United States, it will also have to adapt to the new African policy of the Biden administration.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, Foreign Aid, and Boris Johnson
Political Geography:
Britain, Africa, and Europe

17. Turkish-Greek Rapprochement in the 1930s: The British Factor as a Third Party

Author:
Emine Tutku Vardağlı
Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Academic Inquiries
Institution:
Sakarya University (SAU)
Abstract:
The third party effect in international relations gained popularity in 1990s in the context of conflict resolution. However, the Turkish-Greek relations in the modern era have always been discussed in reference to a third party involvement and Britain has always prevailed over the other countries as the most prominent third party. This study searches for the British influence on the Turkish-Greek rapprochement in 1930s. The British factor influence is usually taken as a matter of Great Power dominance or the “provocateur of rivalries between the two nations” from the Turkish point of view or “cooperation of allies” from the Greek point of view. Whereas, this study focuses on a specific conjuncture in which Britain acted neither as a “provocateur” nor as an “ally” for any party. In reference to the historical sources, it is documented that from the late 1920s the British approach to the Turkish-Greek affairs was altered dramatically, parallel to the overarching systemic changes in the interwar period Specifically, it is argued that the revision of British financial policy in response to the Great Depression and its retreat from the Eastern Mediterranean as a naval power directed Greece to change its foreign policy orientations with a sudden demarche and offer Turkey a peace settlement. Rather than attributing this rapprochement to the efforts of charismatic leaders, this study analyses the issue with a realist mind in reference to the British policies modified in parallel to the systemic changes during the interwar years.
Topic:
International Relations, History, and Rapprochement
Political Geography:
Britain, Turkey, Greece, and Mediterranean

18. Gauging the Gravity of the Situation: The Use and Abuse of Expertise in Estimating the Economic Costs of Brexit

Author:
Christoph Semken and Colin Hay
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Max Planck Sciences Po Center on Coping with Instability in Market Societies (MaxPo)
Abstract:
HM Treasury’s estimation of the economic consequences of Brexit – using standard macroeconomic models – during the EU referendum campaign represents a remarkable intervention in a highly politicized public debate. It raises a series of questions about the use of economic expertise. Through a detailed theoretical and empirical critique of the Treasury’s methodology – and a reassessment of the likely effects of Brexit in light of this – we cast doubt on the utility of their approach, highlighting methodological issues, unrealistic assumptions, and misrepresentations of established facts. In the process we seek to identify some of the wider implications for the use and potential abuse of economic expertise in highly charged political contexts, such as the EU referendum debate.
Topic:
European Union, Economy, Brexit, and Methodology
Political Geography:
Britain and Europe

19. Not For Patching? Public Opinion and the Commitment to ‘Build Back Better’

Author:
Karl Pike, Farah Hussain, Philip Cowley, and Patrick Diamond
Publication Date:
05-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
Abstract:
This project, led by MEI Deputy Director Dr Karl Pike, examines the views of the British public on what rebuilding after the pandemic might mean. It offers some preliminary indications of what policy areas the public want to prioritise, and how the machinery of government has managed and performed during this crisis.
Topic:
Public Opinion, Crisis Management, Public Policy, Survey, COVID-19, and Economic Recovery
Political Geography:
Britain, United Kingdom, and Europe

20. My British Exequatur, “By Her Majesty’s Command”

Author:
Jonathan B. Rickert
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
American Diplomacy
Institution:
American Diplomacy
Abstract:
In order to join the U.S. foreign service, applicants pass through a gauntlet of written and oral assessments, physical examinations, and security clearance. Once those steps are successfully completed, the Secretary of State sends to the President for approval a list of those to be commissioned as diplomatic and consular officers. The commission is what makes one officially a Foreign Service officer. It’s our only badge of membership, unaccompanied by the diplomatic uniform or other regalia used by some other countries to denote diplomatic status. When I sailed into the port of Southampton in the United Kingdom on the S.S. United States on October 26, 1965, as a newly minted and very junior U.S. diplomatic and consular officer, I was armed with my diplomatic passport and commission, issued by President Johnson and signed by Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Those signatures, of course, were printed on the form, but my name, title, the date, etc. had been entered, elegantly in cursive, apparently by hand. The document, on velum-like paper adorned with an impression seal of the United States, looked to me more like a fancy university diploma than anything else. However, it meant that I was a “real” diplomat and authorized to take on the responsibilities required by my career.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Memoir, and Bureaucracy
Political Geography:
Britain and United States of America