New Horizons: Reconsidering Britain’s Role in the World
Britain urgently needs to redefine its purpose on the world stage. In a world marked by escalating crises—climate change, inequality, authoritarianism, and conflict— the challenge at hand is huge.
In New Horizons: Reconsidering Britain’s Role in the World, Clare Short, former Labour MP and Secretary of State for International Development from 1997-2003, takes a critical look at the UK’s current foreign policy and suggest how we can take a more constructive role on the global stage.
The report argues Britain has failed to recognise how far our international influence has diminished, and to face the fact that acting as a perpetual lieutenant to the United States of America is not an honourable or useful contribution to the challenges the world now faces. But we can and should play a more meaningful role.
New Horizons emphasises the importance of a foreign policy that prioritises climate action, international health cooperation and, crucially, sustainable development. That means reversing the damage done to international development —a key pillar of Britain’s role under the last Labour government and one that has been gradually dismantled by the Tories in recent years.
The New Settlement is a project instigated by Compass but involving many others. Its purpose is to address the vision and ideas gap between what our country and its people need and the existing offer of formal politics. Set within the context of the moral and evidential failure of neoliberalism, it seeks to establish the guiding principles and building blocks of a New Settlement that is much more equal, democratic and sustainable.
Other New Settlement publications:
Member background papers
