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Chatham House experts regularly give both oral and written evidence to parliamentary committees in the UK and elsewhere on a wide range of international issues. Reports from Parliamentary Committees often reference existing Chatham House publications. Chatham House also organizes a series of Parliamentary Briefings for MPs and Peers.

Recent Evidence

The Consequences of Piracy in the Horn of Africa

Report prepared for the Italian Parliament
May 2010
Roger Middleton (Chatham House) and Lia Quartapelle's (ISPI Milan) report shows that piracy off the coast of Somalia is growing at an alarming rate. Though it is difficult to disambiguate the impact of Somali piracy from other factors such as the global economic situation, at the level of firms involved in transiting Somali waters there is a clear increase in the costs of doing business the report argues. Despite generating a large inflow of cash for the Somali economy this has had an overwhelmingly negative effect on Somalia by undermining governance structures and boosting demand for activities like arms running.

As is set out in this report piracy is a problem that stems from the political situation in Somalia and that is where a solution will lie, efforts that focus on the regional governments in the north of the country are most likely to be successful if they are designed with the local realities in mind and focus on building a reliable police force before a sophisticated coastguard service. Building a comprehensive Somalia strategy encompassing the legal, military, developmental, humanitarian and political spheres could be bolstered by the appointment of an EU special representative for Somalia. The international naval efforts will be necessary until Somali authorities are themselves able to tackle piracy at source. If the problem were to reach a scale that did deter shipping from using the Suez canal that would not only have a seriously destabilising impact on Egypt but would also most likely have a noticeable impact on the price of goods in European markets and on the business passing through Mediterranean ports.

Read report (in Italian) >>

Nanotechnologies and Food

Science and Technology Committee, House of Lords, UK
8 January 2010
A 2009 Chatham House paper by Dr Falkner et al, Securing the Promise of Nanotechnologies, stated that there is 'little if any interest in pursuing the more ambitious objective of creating an international treaty on nanomaterials regulation'. Report >>

Global Security: UK-US Relations

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
11 November 2009, Dr Robin Niblett, Director, Chatham House
A special relationship in today's world cannot have the uniqueness that we in Britain expect, says Dr Robin Niblett. Read >> Written Evidence >>

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Deforestation: No Hope Without Forests

Environmental Audit Committee, House of Commons, UK
June 2009, Duncan Brack, Senior Research Fellow, Energy, Environment and Development Programme, Chatham House
The European Commission's due diligence proposal would help to reduce illegal timber imports, but only if improvements were made to the draft regulation; it would fail in its current form. Read >>

Russia: A New Confrontation?

Defence Committee, House of Commons, UK
24 March 2009, Sir Andrew Wood, Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House
You could perhaps describe the Russian government as a frozen conflict - the President holds the power but in practice he can't exercise it, says Andrew Wood. Watch >>

The EU and China

European Union Committee, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Development Policy (Sub-Committee C)
26 February 2009, Dr Kerry Brown, Senior Fellow, Asia Programme, Chatham House.
The economic development of China since 1978 was a key feature of this wide ranging evidence from Kerry Brown. Listen >>

Russia: A New Confrontation?

Defence Committee, House of Commons, UK
24 February 2009, James Sherr, Head, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House.
There is no intention within the Russian political or military leadership to pose what might be called a military threat to any NATO country, says James Sherr. Watch >>

Securing Food Supplies Up to 2050: The Challenges for the UK

Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
4 February 2009, Chatham House Food Supply Project
The prospect of trying to effectively pull greenhouse gas emissions out of the food chain is a challenge which is going to keep many people busy for a very long time, says Andrew Jarvis. Watch >>

Reaching an International Agreement on Climate Change

Environmental Audit Committee, House of Commons, UK
8 July 2008, Changing Climates, Report of Interdependencies on Energy and Climate Security for China and Europe project
The recommendation to create Low Carbon Economic Zones as a way to focus EU energy and climate cooperation with China made in the Chatham House Report, Changing Climates, is cited in this Report of the Environmental Audit Committee, paragraph 61.

Canada in Afghanistan

Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, House of Commons, Canada
July 2008, Dr Robert Jackson, Associate Fellow, International Security Programme.
Canada should be clear about the strategic goal it wants to see achieved in Afghanistan and deduce the details of its policies from the goals, not the other way around, argues Robert Jackson.

European Trade Policy

EU Sub-Committee A (Economic and Financial Affairs, and International Trade), House of Lords, UK
6 May 2008, Guy de Jonquières, Senior Research Fellow, International Economics.
There are those in the WTO who argue that the best chance for progress in the Doha round would be to get something teed up, but not concluded, before a new US President takes office, says Guy de Jonquières.

Global Security: Japan and Korea

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
19 March 2008, Dr John Swenson Wright, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme.
The evolution of Japanese foreign and security policy has in part been prompted by the perceived threat from North Korea, argues John Swenson-Wright.

Foreign Policy Aspects of the Lisbon Treaty

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
21 November 2007, Richard Whitman, Associate Fellow, Europe.
Richard Whitman made the case that although the EU and the Community before it had been successful in some aspects of its foreign economic policy, it had been less successful in its common foreign and security policy.

The Future of NATO and European Defence

Defence Committee, House of Commons, UK
9 October 2007, Dr Robin Niblett, Director.
NATO's fundamental purpose is to maintain the transatlantic link on security issues between the United States and the Europe, says Robin Niblett.

Global Security: The Middle East

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
28 February 2007, Dr Rosemary Hollis, Director of Research.
It will need not only strong leadership, but also a cohesive effort from all the principal players involved - the EU, the US and Arab countries - to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, argues Rosemary Hollis.

Global Security: The Middle East

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
7 March 2007, Nadim Shehadi, Associate Fellow, Middle East Programme.
The Assad regime in Syria is offering the world a deal in which they will completely transform the regime, reform the economy and help with Iraq and Palestine in return for concessions on the Hariri tribunal and return of its influence in Lebanon, says Nadim Shehadi.

Global Security: Iran

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
23 May 2007, Professor Ali Ansari, Associate Fellow, Middle East Programme.
Iran's nuclear ambitions as a highly sensitive and very nationalistic issue that has been exploited very effectively by the Government of Mr Ahmadinejad in order, perhaps, to disguise other failings in his Administration, says Ali Ansari.

Global Security: Russia

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
16 May 2007, Professor Yury Fedorov, Associate Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme.
The basic problems of energy security for both Russia and Europe is whether Russia will be able to avoid or prevent a serious production crisis, especially in the gas industry, and whether it will be able both to fulfill export obligations and satisfy domestic needs, argues Yury Federov.

Global Security: Iran

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
2 May 2007, Dr Rosemary Hollis, Director of Research.
Iran has multi-faceted relationships in the Middle East and multiple opportunities to make its presence and position felt, says Rosemary Hollis.

South Asia

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
31 January 2007, Dr Gareth Price, Head, Asia Programme.
There is an issue of disillusionment with the Government, largely because expectations were so high a couple of years ago, and while a lot of international aid and assistance has been given to Afghanistan, the benefits have been rarely seen by the average Afghan, says Gareth Price.

India

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
December 2006, Charu Lata Hogg, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme.

South Asia

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
20 November 2006, Dr Gareth Price, Head, Asia Programme.

China

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
19 July 2006, Dr John Swenson-Wright, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme.

China

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
20 January 2006, Yiyi Lu, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme.

China

Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, UK
1 February 2006, Professor David Wall, Associate Fellow, Asia Programme.