Presenting The Red Button Club’s next discussion
In a world turned upside down by Covid-19, what’s the purpose of a foreign policy and why do we have one?
Everything is going to change. At least that’s what we’ve been told. While we may not be able to predict what comes next, we can prepare for it. After our first conversations, we spent time thinking about what the next question to discuss at The Red Button Club should be. We debated questions like:
How can we make the case for overseas aid in a time of crisis?
What does a truly global response to Covid-19 look like?
What will economic shocks mean for foreign engagement?
But where to start? We recognised that this moment of crisis gives us an opportunity to pause to check our assumptions. Rather than rushing in to provide answers on what needs to happen, we at The Red Button Club plan to take advantage of this pause and go back to basics. To revisit and reimagine first principles. So the question for our next discussion is:
What’s the purpose of a foreign policy and why do we have one?
Why this question? Well, room might - might - be opening to reimagine the UK’s foreign policy. Not today, not next week, but maybe in the months and years to come.
There is a huge amount we want to change. But if we rush straight to the stage of offering answers and visions, we risk reproducing the same old stale foreign policy recommendations that have been ignored by our politicians. That have failed to cut through the noise to reach the general public.
And with everyone thinking about what and who makes us safe, we have a chance for a more inclusive discussion on foreign policy than we’ve previously had.
Our aim for the discussions are to outline some core principles for what the UK’s foreign policy should really be about. So if you’re interested in joining the discussions, press the red button below:
We’re keen to create a space for as many people to discuss foreign policy, so do share this post with anyone else you think might be curious.
Your friends at The Red Button Club