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Strategic indispensability in a geopolitically volatile era

Date:

22 April 2026

Time:

12:45-14:15 BST

Location:

In and Out Naval and Military Club, 4 St James’s Square
London, SW1Y 4JU

Our Whitehall Briefings connect Whitehall officials and other key stakeholders for discussions on a range of topical geopolitical, geoeconomic and geostrategic issues, as well as domestic issues associated with the United Kingdom’s leadership on the global stage. A prominent Whitehall official discusses their knowledge and expertise before invited guests engage in discussion and offer valuable input and ideas.

The Whitehall Briefings take place bi-monthly at the In and Out Naval and Military Club. Events are by invitation only and take place strictly off-the-record.

Keynote speaker

Helen Walker-Fleming

Helen Walker-Fleming

Deputy Head Strategy, National Security Secretariat

Helen Walker-Fleming is the Deputy Head of the Strategy Unit in the National Security Secretariat. She led the drafting team for the UK’s National Security Strategy 2025. A diplomat by background, she has worked across multilateral and bilateral diplomacy, serving at the UK Mission to the UN in New York and as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Croatia. Her experience includes roles as Speechwriter to the Foreign Secretary and Head of the Egypt Team during a period of significant regional transition. Her current work focuses on navigating the complexities of modern statecraft and strengthening the UK’s strategic posture in a volatile global landscape.

Honorary chair

Dr Carl Stephen Patrick Hunter OBE is Chairman of Coltraco Ultrasonics, Chairman of the Council on Geostrategy Forum & Whitehall Briefings, Director the Centre for Underwater Acoustic Analysis, Director-General of the Durham Institute of Research, Development and Invention, Professor-in-Practice, Durham University, with his laboratory co-located with the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation, Department of Physics, Senior Research Fellow Strategy, Statecraft, Technology, Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, Oxford, Visiting Fellow of the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre and Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology & the Royal Aeronautical Society. A former Greenjacket Officer, he was a member of the Covid-19 Economic Recovery Taskforce and advises several government departments.

Contact

For further information about the Whitehall Briefings, please email Luca Hinks, Head of Events and Conferences, at [email protected].