This report attempts to provide a maximally sleek strategic overview to inform Labour policy and thinking on the UK-Ukraine (UK-UA) relationship and on Russia’s war against Ukraine. In so doing, it draws on interviews with a wide range of senior Ukrainian, British, American, EU, and Russian officials and foreign policy elites as well as close to a decade of academic research on Russian foreign policy, propaganda, and public attitudes towards Ukraine and the West.

The growing assertiveness of authoritarian actors means the UK has a key role to play in promoting democracy and human rights globally. It is vital that this is done through concrete action, not merely by speechifying about democratic values.

The situation in Afghanistan is worsening by the hour. It reflects a catastrophic miscalculation of the capacity and legitimacy of the Afghan government, and the resilience of Afghan forces.

While the ambitious scope and breadth of the Integrated Review can be commended, the lack of detail in many areas raises questions over both the feasibility and desirability of the approach it outlines.

The UK is closer than it has been in years to a cross-party consensus on Russia. Labour and the Conservatives now share a justified perception of Russia as a clear threat to the UK as well as its allies and partners in Europe. Their mutual recognition of Russia’s malign behaviour, however, obscures a mutual failure to elaborate a detailed vision of what Britain’s relations with Russia should look like.

The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is an ongoing, cross-governmental review launched in 2019. The review is expected to be published in March 2021, though this is later than originally planned and there has been some speculation that this could be delayed even further.