Britain Looking Forward: An Interview with Dr. Nick Wright

In this episode, Garrison is joined by returning guest Dr. Nick Wright of University College London. They discuss the AstraZeneca vaccine export controversy between London and Brussels, the return of left-right political alignments in the new post-Brexit era, and discuss the political prospects surrounding Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vaccine rollout success. They also discuss the upcoming Scottish parliamentary elections in May in light of the launch of the new Alba party in Scotland under Alex Salmond. Finally, they analyze the UK Integrated Defense Review, including its views on the transatlantic relationship, the UK’s approach to addressing China, and the diversifying of defense to a holistic approach to data, cyber, climate, trade, science research, soft power, and hard power (particularly naval). They close out the episode by taking a look ahead via the British view of the upcoming German Federal Elections at the end of 2021 and the French Presidential elections coming early next year (2022). Dr. Nicholas Wright is a Senior Teaching Fellow in EU Politics at University College London. He is author of the 2018 book "The EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy in Germany and the UK". He is also the author of numerous academic articles and publications on the U.K., Brexit, Northern Ireland, the European Union, European security policy, and more. He is an alumnus of the University of East Anglia and Durham University. Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he holds a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) from Liberty University in the United States. All guest opinions are their own and not that of The New Diplomatist podcast formally. Please subscribe and leave a review for feedback. Thank you for listening. Season 2 Episode 20