The combination of the UK’s departure from the EU, and the coronavirus pandemic, has caused uncertainty across the UK business ecosystem. As the UK’s largest city and the contributor of…
Author: Jonathan Blanchard Smith
What are the futures for world trade?
“Globalisation is dead.” It is argued that the rise of populism, and its two most obvious successes – the Trump administration and Brexit – have proved it. “America First”, claimed…
“Raising our game”: the EU’s new Strategic Foresight Network
On 18 and 19 November last year, the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System (ESPAS) held its annual conference. “Thinking about the Future: Europe’s Road to 2030” took place entirely…
When oil demand peaks: thinking about the geopolitical impacts of peak oil.
What happens to oil producing countries when oil demand peaks? When petro-economies no longer are able to finance themselves through the extraction and export of oil products, what do they…
New, Next and Never – thinking about how to name our future
What do we call the time after Covid-19? As we’ve already discussed in these blogs, there is a consensus – which we challenge, but let’s go with it – that…
Looking to the future from an uncertain present
I was in a meeting a little while ago when someone asked “can we really make scenarios of the future when the present is so uncertain?” It’s a question I’ve…