🗓️UK Media Freedom Forum 2026
📍London + Online | 5–6 March

We’re co-hosting the second #UKMFF2026 with JFJ & IBAHRI, in partnership with City St George's, University of London..

We’ll examine global threats to #MediaFreedom & shape concrete policy responses.

Register📝 forms.gle/Sh6FxLkjNmuu...

🗳️🇰🇬 This Sunday, #Kyrgyzstan holds snap parliamentary #elections.

In a new article, FPC Senior Fellow Dr @aijanco.bsky.social unpacks the shift to a majoritarian system, declining party politics & the consolidation of presidential power.

📖 fpc.org.uk/kyrgyz-parli...

🌍🇿🇦 New Op-ed by Elizabeth Sidiropoulos, SAIIA

As #SouthAfrica prepares to host the #G20 Summit this weekend, it is using its presidency to prioritise global equity, #DebtSustainability & #development

📖:https://fpc.org.uk/op-ed-africas-moment-south-africas-g20-fight-to-centre-development/

🌍 COP30 opened yesterday with urgent calls to honour climate promises and scale up finance for those most affected.

In her article, Sophie Powell of Christian Aid warns UK leadership will ring hollow without a credible finance plan.

📖 Read: fpc.org.uk/at-cop30-uk-...

📰 Who is standing up for #MediaFreedom — and who is not?

A new FPC article by Martin Scott & Mel Bunce introduces the first global Index assessing how 30 states support media freedom via foreign policy, diplomacy, aid & journalist safety.

📖📊 Read: fpc.org.uk/who-is-stand...

🗳️ New Op-Ed: Georgian Elections – Unpacking the Fallout of 4th October by Davit Jintcharadze

Georgia’s recent local elections saw record-low turnout, a partial opposition boycott, and renewed concerns over electoral integrity.

📖 Read: fpc.org.uk/op-ed-georgi...

🕊️🇺🇳 Today marks 25 years since #UNSCR1325 on Women, Peace & Security

To mark #WPS25, Anna Chernova reflects on UK leadership as WPS penholder & challenges ahead.

📖https://fpc.org.uk/op-ed-british-soft-power-and-increasing-defence-holding-the-pen-on-gender-in-an-age-of-violence/

🗞️ Ending Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
More than a decade after the UN declared 2 Nov the Intl Day to #EndImpunity for crimes against journalists, impunity persists.

In a new FPC piece, Fiona O’Brien @rsf.org calls for urgent action.

➡️🔗 fpc.org.uk/op-ed-if-we-...

🧭✍️ Trump’s Central Asia Gambit by FPC Fellow Alex Folkes

As President Trump prepares to meet leaders of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan & Tajikistan on 6 Nov, what are the aims and implications of this move?

📖 Read the full piece: fpc.org.uk/op-ed-trumps...

🔍 New FPC Long Read: Dealing with the #SanctionsBubble in #Georgia
By Dr Ilya Roubanis & Co-author

Sanctions on Russia were meant to constrain — instead, they’ve enabled a global ecosystem of intermediaries, offshore hubs & political enablers.

📄 Read: fpc.org.uk/dealing-with...

🗳️🇳🇱 New Op-ed: The enduring relevance of the Far Right ahead of the #DutchElection
By Prof. @stijntvankessel.bsky.social

Ahead of the 29 Oct vote, far-right narratives continue to shape Dutch politics.

🔗 Read: fpc.org.uk/op-ed-the-en...

💡Great to see @philbrickellmp.bsky.social raise a written Q on the UK Gov’s assessment of TNR over the past 5 years.

Dan Jarvis MP replied, citing the Defending Democracy Taskforce’s review, saying the UK won’t tolerate foreign intimidation.
📄 www.parallelparliament.co.uk/question/746...

🇸🇾 🎉Thank you to all who joined us in Parliament for our roundtable on Syria’s transition nine months on.

Our expert panel reflected on interim governance, legal reform & the prospects for meaningful accountability.

📝 A takeaway report will be out soon: fpc.org.uk/join/

🆕📖 Today we launch our latest report - Playing to our strengths: The future of the UK’s soft power in foreign policy.

📖 Read & download 👉 fpc.org.uk/publications...

#SoftPower #UKForeignPolicy #FPC

🗞️🆕Last week we focused on transnational repression (TNR) and the broader threats to democratic resilience and international cooperation.

👇Catch up on the key contributions from our team and network

#TNR #Democracy #HumanRights #ForeignPolicy

📣🌐 FPC Senior Adviser Craig Oliphant spoke to The Globe and Mail ahead of today’s Trump-Zelensky meeting at the White House.

💬“[Zelensky] is going with back-up… He’ll be looking to leaders like Starmer to do their bit.”

🔗 www.theglobeandmail.com/world/articl...

#Ukraine #Diplomacy #FPC