United Kingdom (Project on Center-Left Renewal)

PPI’s Project on Center-Left Renewal resumes our long-running conversation with center-left parties in Europe and around the world. Its purpose is to exchange ideas, strategies and tactics for making center-left parties more competitive and improve their governing performance.

Led by Claire Ainsley, former Executive Director for Policy for Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer, the project has contributed immensely to a renewed transatlantic dialogue between Labour and Democrats.

Highlights of Ainsley’s 2024 work thus far include: A comprehensive U.K. election preview, a TV interview discussing the potential ramifications of the U.S. Presidential election on U.S.-U.K. relations, an analysis of the new Labour manifesto, the working-class imperative for Labour and Democrats, and much more.

Kyiv, Ukraine (New Ukraine Project)

PPI’s New Ukraine Project, led by Tamar Jacoby from on the ground in Kyiv, is devoted to helping Ukraine secure its independence and take its place in Europe as a fully free and democratic nation. The project continues to track Ukraine’s progress as it strengthens civil society, tackles the corruption inherited from the Soviet era, rebuilds the economy and creates new constitutional safeguards and political institutions to protect individual rights and liberties.

Jacoby’s work highlights the continued need for humanitarian and financial assistance, refugee settlement, and military aid, and explore ways to speed Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and, eventually, NATO.

Highlights' of Jacoby’s 2024 work thus far include: A piece on Biden needing to stand up for Ukraine in the wake of the far right movement in Europe, the impact of the war on the Ukrainian economy, analysis of the Ukraine aid package, a look at fears of continued Russian aggression, and much more.

PPI Hosted a Delegation of United Kingdom Prospective Parliamentary Candidates (January 15-18, 2024)

To kick off the year, the Progressive Policy Institute hosted a group of promising British parliamentary candidates who have now taken office following last week’s July 4th election. While visiting America, the candidates attended discussions with a number of campaign organizations such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the New Democrats and Blue Dog Democrats coalitions, and Members of the House of Delegates and State Senators in Virginia. The overwhelming message across these groups was the importance of appealing to working class voters spread throughout their districts and appealing to voters that have been traditionally ignored by the far left wings of the Democratic and Labour parties.

Turkey (January 24, 2024)

For Turkey, the evolving App Economy is a potent source of future jobs since developing, updating, maintaining and securing mobile apps is becoming even more important. In this paper, report author Michael Mandel, PPI’s Vice President and Chief Economist, estimates the number of App Economy jobs for Turkey, as of August 2023. He calculates the size of the iOS and Android ecosystems for Turkey, and compares Turkey’s App Economy to other peer countries.

Brussels, Belgium

Michael Mandel spoke at a European Union Digital Markets Act Workshop.

Neel Brown participated in the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and Karl-Renner Institut’s Analytical Conference “Ahead and beyond the Elections: what are the major European political and social trends in 2024.”

Tamar Jacoby and Michael Quigley hosted two high-level dinners with Members of European parliament (MEPs), European Commission officials, ambassadors, and representatives from USAID, COE and DG Near as part of a series that began in May 2023.

The dinners serve as strategy sessions for Ukraine’s closest allies in Brussels as attendees discuss how to best push for aid and membership for Ukraine.

The first took place March 18 and was headlined by Michael Gahler, an influential MEP and chief Ukraine advocate from Germany, while the second occurred July 8, with David O’Sullivan, the International Special Envoy for the Implementation of EU Sanctions as guest speaker. A third dinner is planned for this October as well.

Berlin, Germany

Michael Mandel presented his paper on the German App Economy.

PPI hosted Andreas Kaiser, Government Counsellor at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, to discuss US LNG exports and trade issues.

Stuart Malec and Sarah Paden also hosted a lunch with Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action & MP, along with a number of different government and embassy officials to brief the German group on the state of US politics.

And PPI hosted an event led by Sarah Paden with an international group of women traveling with the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung. Attendees were from across the world- Jordan, Pakistan, Lithuania, Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, Chile, Armenia, Philippines, Tanzania, Hungary and Bhutan.

Melbourne, Australia (March 19, 2024)

PPI traveled to Australia to promote our encryption paper. Our first event took place in Melbourne and was chaired by Rebecca Thistleton, Executive Director of McKell Victoria and Ed Cavanough, CEO of the McKell Institute. The event included a moderated Q&A with the paper’s authors, audience questions and a VIP salon dinner.

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Auckland, New Zealand (March 25, 2024)

PPI then made our way over to New Zealand, where we partnered with Netsafe to host a salon dinner to present the results of the paper and discuss New Zealand’s encryption regulations in an intimate, off-the-record setting. Our partner, Netsafe, is an important digital authority in New Zealand, appointed by the government to receive and investigate complaints of harmful digital content in the country.

Japan (March 26, 2024)

Michael Mandel wrote about how Japan should keep a close eye on the European Union’s recent rollout of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). As the results of the EU regulatory experiment unfold over the next year, taking account of the lessons — and downsides — of the DMA could greatly improve Japan’s digital regulatory efforts.

Brussels, Belgium (April 2-3, 2024)

PPI took a bipartisan and bicameral delegation to their Brussels office to meet with European Director Michael Quigley and visit NATO and various institutions of European government. The delegation learned what the greater European view of the war in Ukraine was and what NATO and the EU is doing to assist Ukraine’s fight against Russia, with an emphasis on the US continuing to provide military aid.

Warsaw & Rzeszow, Poland (April 4-6, 2024)

The delegation then flew to Poland to hear directly from those the war is affecting, as well as Polish leaders. They visited a school run by the Polish Center for International Aid for Ukrainian refugees, where they heard the stories of teachers and students whose homes had been destroyed by the Russian military. The delegation also visited Rzeszow, a town on the Polish and Ukrainian border that is now a hotbed for US and other international military advisors, and concluded with a briefing from the general leading the 82nd Airborne Division.

London, United Kingdom (April 17-19)

Claire Ainsley participated in the annual German-British Parliamentary Dialogue, which provides a crucial and comprehensive platform for British and German policymakers, academics and activists from the progressive spectrum to engage in constructive discussions, share insights, and contribute to the formulation of a shared progressive agenda. Sessions focused on EU-UK relations, trade and investment strategies, transatlantic relations, House of Lords reform and political communication.

Participants discussed common challenges for progressives in the UK and Germany. Key topics included Labour’s approach to improving the current Brexit arrangements and relationship with the EU, this year’s elections in the UK and US and the resulting impacts on future transatlantic relations, and strategies to revive trade and investment in a level-playing field.

Georgia (April 17-19)

Colin Mortimer was invited to speak at LibertyCon Europe hosted this year in Tbilisi, Georgia with over 500 people in attendance. The conference touched on themes of Russian aggression in their continent, the crisis in the Middle East, immigration, trade and more.

Brazil (May 2, 2024)

Michael Mandel filed comments on Brazil's proposed competition law.

India (May 15, 2024)

Michael Mandel filed comments on India's draft competition law.

Tokyo, Japan (May 20-24, 2024)

PPI Executive Director Lindsay Mark Lewis hosted a panel on global harm reduction efforts at the 35th annual International College of Neuropsychopharmacology Conference in Tokyo.

European Parliament Salon Dinner (June 26, 2024)

PPI’s Neel Brown hosted a salon dinner with senior staff from the European Parliament and U.S. Congress to discuss EU-US relations. The European Parliament staff were participating in a Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue (TLD) training session. This dinner provided an opportunity for senior policy staffers in Europe and the United States to meet, exchange ideas and best practices, highlight emerging issues and establish dialogues that inform policy work.