Will the Labour Government Seek A New Approach to the Middle East?

Global Security Briefing

Concluding our series on how the UK’s new Labour government is approaching key foreign policy questions, we turn to the Middle East.

It is in the Middle East that Labour’s ‘progressive realist’ foreign policy will be most tested – especially in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Signalling the importance of the Middle East to the new government, Foreign Secretary David Lammy visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories just over a week after Labour’s election victory.

The UK’s distinct regional profile has faded in recent years as London has approached the Middle East in broad alignment with the US and focused on concluding trade deals rather than pursuing high-level diplomatic engagements. Will the UK under a Labour government seek to carve out a more distinct regional approach and play a more prominent role in the Middle East? Host Neil Melvin is joined by Dr Burcu Ozcelik, RUSI Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security, and Dr Michael Stephens, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, to answer this and more.