Council on Geostrategy

18/05/2026

‘The biggest bottleneck facing UK defence is a lack of certainty from government.’

With increased defence investment expected to create 50,000 new job vacancies, the sector is facing an unprecedented challenge. How do we adapt our training and retention practices to fill them?

In the premiere episode of Season 3, hosts Paul Mason and Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene sit down with an expert panel to unpack the future of the UK defence workforce:

🗣️ Paul Oxley, Director General, ADS Skills
🗣️ R. Adm. Rose, Director of People and Training, Royal Navy
🗣️ Dr Mary Haigh, Deputy Global Chief Information Officer and Director Digital Delivery Office at BAE Systems

Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/s_woa2W5B28

15/05/2026

How should Britain respond to rising European populism?

We asked 7 experts in today’s

✍️ Prof. Amelia Hadfield, Sir Paul Lever KCMG, Ed Owen, James Rogers, Dr Michael Toomey, Prof. Simon Usherwood and Prof. Stefan Wolff

Read the full analysis here: https://www.britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-big-ask-17-2026

💬 Who do you side with? Let us know in the comments below 👇

The Big Ask | No. 17.2026

15/05/2026

Coming soon on : Luke Pollard MP, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, unpacks Britain's move to warfighting readiness.

The Minister joins hosts Paul Mason and Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene for a deep dive into:

👉 The transition to a wartime industrial footing by 2027
👉 Closing the readiness gap through sovereign production
👉 How defence acts as an engine for economic growth

Full episode out next week!

In the meantime, catch up on our latest episode about the skills needed to future-proof UK defence here: https://youtu.be/s_woa2W5B28

13/05/2026

What will be the most in-demand job title in the UK defence industry 10 years from now?

🎙️ R.Adm. Rose OBE, Director of People and Training with the Royal Navy, joins the latest episode of to unpack the skills needed for future-proofing defence in an age of increasing geopolitical contestation and rapid technological advancement.

He joins Paul Mason and Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene alongside Dr Mary Haigh, cyber security expert at BAE Systems, and Paul Oxley, Director General of ADS Skills to unpack how the sector must adapt its training and retention practices to fill the expected 50,000 new job vacancies created by increased defence investment.

▶️ Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/s_woa2W5B28

12/05/2026

AI can process data in seconds, but can it make an ethical judgement call? ⚖️

In the latest episode of , Dr Mary Haigh, cybersecurity expert at BAE Systems, shares a vital reminder - as we integrate AI and emerging tech, the most future-proof skills remain:

⚖️ Good judgement
💡 Integrity
🟢 Strong moral code

Mary joins Paul Mason and Viktorija Starych-Samuoliene alongside R. Adm. Rose OBE, Director of People and Training for the Royal Navy, and Paul Oxley, Director General of ADS Skills, to discuss how the defence sector can close the skills gap in an age of rapid technological advancement.

▶️ Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/s_woa2W5B28

12/05/2026

As global threats escalate, the UK defence sector must reinvent how it recruits, trains, and retains the expertise essential to national security.

The new season of is here!

Paul Mason and Viktorija Starych-Samuolienė are joined by:
🎙️ R. Adm. Rose OBE, Director of People and Training for the Royal Navy;
🎙️ Dr Mary Haigh, Deputy Global Chief Information Officer and Director of Digital Delivery at BAE Systems;
🎙️ Paul Oxley, Director General of ADS Skills

Tune in for insights on:
💡 Innovation pace: Outpacing tech cycles with agile training.
💼 The talent pipeline: Embracing 'squiggly' careers and STEM reform.
🚨 Workforce resilience: Solving the 50,000 vacancy challenge.

Defence Talks is back for Season 3!As global threats escalate and technological innovation outpaces traditional training, the UK defence sector faces a defin...

12/05/2026

HM Government must urgently implement stricter strategic, legislative, and oversight measures to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from using legitimate corporate channels to acquire sensitive technology.

‘A lack of clear strategic thinking regarding the United Kingdom’s relations with the People’s Republic of China continues to compromise national security.’

🔗 Read the latest by Charles Parton OBE, Chief Adviser to our : https://www.observingchina.org.uk/p/the-imagination-technologies-case

A call for action

11/05/2026

By increasing reliance on the Northern Sea Route for shipping, the UK and Europe are walking into a geostrategic trap.

The latest analysis from H I Sutton, our Adjunct Fellow, explores the inherent strategic risks of this emerging trade route.

✍️ ‘With the Northern Sea Route, Russia could, in the near future, be given an easy point of leverage over British and European foreign policy.’

🔗 https://www.britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-memorandum-19-2026

The Memorandum | No. 19.2026

08/05/2026

Did the King’s visit to America reaffirm the importance of soft power?

We asked 6 experts in today’s

✍️ Evie Aspinall, Joshua Huminski, Dr Vincent Keating, Dr Ksenia Kirkham, Thomas Nurcombe, Prof. Richard Whitman

Read the full analysis here: https://www.britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-big-ask-16-2026

The Big Ask | No. 16.2026

07/05/2026

Did you catch our latest in collaboration with the Coalition for a Prosperous America?

Andrew Rechenberg unpacks foreign control of antibiotic supply, detailing how the People's Republic of China now dominates 80-90% of the supply of the raw ingredients used in .

🔗 Find out how we can secure our antibiotics supply chain: https://www.geostrategy.org.uk/research/foreign-control-of-antibiotic-supply/