Event: Britain's uncertain European future
On 23 June, the UK will undertake a historic second referendum on whether or not to remain a member of the European Union. The polls imply the public are evenly divided. The ruling Conservative Party is split once again, while the referendum debate is opening new schisms across British politics. Robin Niblett will assess the state of the UK's EU debate, the risks and opportunities that either outcome could entail for Britain, and the ways in which Britain's decision could influence the future evolution of the EU as well as its external relations.
Dr Robin Niblett CMG
Robin Niblett became the Director of Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) in January 2007. Before joining Chatham House, from 2001 to 2006, Dr Niblett was the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). During his last two years at CSIS, he also served as Director of the CSIS Europe Programme and its Initiative for a Renewed Transatlantic Partnership.
Dr Niblett’s commentary and analysis have appeared in the Financial Times, Washington Post, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and Reuters. He is the author of the Chatham House Reports Britain, Europe and the World: Rethinking the UK’s Circles of Influence (Chatham House, 2015) and Playing to its Strengths: Rethinking the UK’s Role in a Changing World (Chatham House, 2010), and editor and contributing author to America and a Changed World: A Question of Leadership (Chatham House/Wiley-Blackwell, 2010). He is also the author and contributor to a number of Chatham House and CSIS reports on transatlantic relations; is contributing author and co-editor with William Wallace of Rethinking European Order (Palgrave, 2001); and a contributor to Influencing Tomorrow: Future Challenges for British Foreign Policy (Guardian Books, 2013) by Douglas Alexander MP and Dr Ian Kearns.
Dr Niblett is a frequent panellist at conferences on Europe and transatlantic relations. He has testified on a number of occasions to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the US Senate and House Committees on European Affairs.
He is a Non-Executive Director of Fidelity European Values Investment Trust. He is a Special Adviser to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (2015). He was Chairman of the Experts Group for the 2014 NATO Summit. He was Chairman of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Europe (2012-13) and Chair of the British Academy Steering Committee of Languages for Security Project (2013). He became a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2015.
He received his BA in Modern Languages and MPhil and DPhil from New College, Oxford.
