02 Mar New Frontiers of Global Regulation
An Urgent Opportunity for Global Britain’s Leadership
This new research concept paper from the BFPG, authored by Sophia Gaston and Eleni Koumoundouros, examines both the proactive opportunities and strategic necessities of the UK taking a more prominent position in designing, championing and implementing new frameworks of global governance across four emerging areas: the ‘global’ internet, ethical Artificial Intelligence, space, and the Arctic. These are all areas of significant interest to our geo-strategic rivals, and domains in which the UK has clear areas of expertise and credibility through which to advance our interests, and gain a ‘first-mover’ advantage.
These spheres are each of independent and growing value to our democratic way of life, our prosperity, supply chains, and our national resilience, as well as of shared importance to global peace and security. The vacuum that is developing in the absence of clear frameworks of regulation offers no strategic benefit for the West, and considerable risk to many areas of our collective interest. There is an urgent need for the UK to invest in understanding the geopolitical potential of these areas, their utility to authoritarian states, and their role in determining future power dynamics. Moreover, to determine clear pathways through which the UK can carve out a leadership role in codifying and setting common standards and values by which such frontiers can be collectively managed.
