Navigating a world between orders: Launching the Centre for Geopolitics and International Policy
Article
Following a successful first phase of our international programme, IPPR has launched the Centre for Geopolitics and International Policy (CGIP).
Founded on progressive values, the centre will develop thinking on how the UK can navigate today’s rapidly changing global landscape, and ensure international policy supports delivery at home.
Building on our international programme
In 2024, IPPR launched a new international policy programme to develop distinctively progressive ideas at a time of global upheaval. As now-deputy prime minister David Lammy noted in 2024:
In this new era of instability, we are going to need new ideas and a new kind of diplomacy. IPPR have always been the ideas factory for progressive politics in the UK. They are already playing this role again on international policy.
His words speak to both the urgency of the moment and the unique role IPPR seeks to play in shaping the UK’s international agenda.
In its first phase, the programme delivered real policy change. For example our first report, Our home: A progressive agenda on international nature, directly contributed to the UK government appointing an international nature envoy, and our second publication, Aid for asylum hosting: Time to act, has helped shape decisions on how the UK uses official development assistance (ODA).
Our most recent report, Reset: Building modern partnerships with countries of the global south, was launched in conversation with the minister of state for international development and Africa Baroness Chapman, who referred to the report as 'excellent', and the high commissioner of Zambia Macenje Mazoka. A number of the policy recommendations are currently being taken forward, for instance the establishment of 'north stars' to focus efforts and measure outcomes.
Beyond publications, the programme has built strong relationships within and beyond Westminster. We have convened senior leaders in government, civil society partners and international experts at both formal and informal gatherings. These include political decision makers such as former foreign secretary David Lammy and attorney general Richard Hermer, key advisers such as Minouche Shafik and Rachel Kyte, and key academics such as Harvard's Rana Mitter and LSE's Lant Pritchett.
None of this would have been possible without the advice and guidance of our advisory panel, and the trust and support of our funders (the Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, the Eleanor Crook Foundation, the European Climate Foundation, the Open Society Foundation and Climateworks). We are grateful to them, and to all those who have engaged with our work over the last year.
Why a new centre – and why now?
Since our programme launched almost two years ago, the international context has shifted again. Instability is growing. Power is shifting. Alliances we once took for granted are in flux. Progressive norms are weakening. The result is a more volatile and uncertain world – a world between orders – where the UK can no longer afford to do business as usual.
This moment demands new thinking, including a clearer sense of what progressive international policy should look like.
To meet this challenge, IPPR is launching the Centre for Geopolitics and International Policy (CGIP). Its mission is to enable the UK government to successfully navigate a world between orders, and to do so in ways that deliver progressive outcomes, both internationally and at home.
Instability is growing. Power is shifting. Alliances we once took for granted are in flux. Progressive norms are weakening.
Our work will focus on four areas:
- The global south: Developing ideas that reframe and reset the UK’s relationship with countries in the global south.
- Geopolitics: Analysing how the UK manages its key strategic relationships, including with the US, EU, and China, in the context of intensifying geopolitical competition.
- International economic policy: Developing policies that enable the UK’s international policy to directly support inclusive and sustainable growth in the UK.
- Progressive internationalism: Rethinking what it means to be progressive in foreign policy in today’s radically changed world.
IPPR has always believed that the UK can play a progressive role in the world – and that engaging internationally can support progressive outcomes in the UK. With the launch of the Centre for Geopolitics and International Policy, we will continue to build on that belief by creating new, bold ideas, building new partnerships, and helping shape an international policy agenda that delivers for people, planet and democracy.
We look forward to working with old and new partners, across borders and sectors, to develop this agenda. If you want to learn more or work with us, please contact Sofie Pultz or Laura Chappell.
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