The leaking of the US Democratic Party’s internal emails, just ahead of the Democratic Party Convention, is almost certainly an attempt by Russian state backed interests to undermine America’s global position – whoever wins the election. America is not the only target of such strategies, and Russia is not the only source of these threats. Such threats will grow. These are just very early, experimental and ill targeted subversion strategies of groups that will go on to become far more proficient and subtle in their intentions and methods.

Britain is particularly vulnerable to such threats due to our perceived value internationally as a relatively honest and open broker and neutral convenor at the heart of many international political and economic activities. For those who wish to undermine a rules based international system it is critical that they undermine Britain’s global position and influence. The most direct route to achieving this is to undermine British public understanding and support for a globally engaged and influential United Kingdom.

In recent years the UK has lacked strategic capacity to counter efforts to undermine popular understanding and engagement with foreign policy issues. The British Foreign Policy Group has been established to meet this need, providing timely and accessible evidence led information and analysis on Britain’s international position and choices to diverse audiences. Over coming months, we will be rolling out a programme of activities in support of this.