China under Xi Jinping is keen on narratives and story telling. But the stories that the country has told have raised questions about what the counternarratives are by other partners associated with it internationally. Of these, the Sino British story is amongst the longest established, the best documented, and the most complex and rich in terms of its contents, at least amongst Western countries.

Building world order is not the monopoly of any civilisation, region or nation.

Some of the foundational principles and institutions of world order that we have today were developed – both independently and through mutual contact – by multiple societies, in similar if not same forms at different stages of history. These include anarchic and hierarchic inter-state systems, republicanism, freedom of seas, open trade, human rights, nationalism, humanitarian law, Great Power cooperation, and realpolitik and moral statecraft.

Since 1942, the UK-US relationship has been founded on intelligence-sharing, a military alliance, shared values, and the United States’ commitment to maintain European security. As the postwar order comes under increasing strain, we welcome to the RAI the US Embassy London’s Deputy Chief of Mission Matthew Palmer, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service. He will offer his reflections about the current state of the Special Relationship between the US and UK, foreign policy challenges, and opportunities that lie ahead, followed by a question-and-answer session.

The political ethnography reading and seminar group welcomes Dennis Rodgers, Research Professor at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, for a presentation of the first results of the ERC GANGS project on "Gangs, Gangsters and Ganglands". The presentation will focus on longitudinal and comparative ethnographies of gangs in Cape Town and Managua with Steffen Bo Jensen (Aalborg university).

"Decentering Gangs: Comparative Ethnographic Insights from Nicaragua and South Africa"