The Future Maritime Leaders’ Laboratory was led by the Council on Geostrategy, in partnership with academics from King’s College London. The event was designed as a policy game and aimed to cultivate a close-knit network of young professionals working on maritime affairs to create a wider community of practice. The event included 60 next generation maritime leaders, drawing from a broad network of academics and practitioners.

This year’s Future Maritime Leaders’ Laboratory focused on an interactive investigation of the risk sequential crises would have on the United Kingdom’s maritime capabilities and force structure. In light of events in Ukraine and the Red Sea, the prospect of the British Armed Forces contributing to a variety of crises nationally or in a multinational coalition is increasingly likely.

The policy game interrogated how multiple crises might represent both an opportunity for a versatile and agile maritime-focused posture to offer valuable policy responses, as well as a challenge to the allocation of resources in a sustainable fashion.

The insights gained during the policy game were shared with the moderators and informed each panel, as well as follow-up questions to them, to ensure that the work conducted by participants of this year’s Future Maritime Leaders’ Laboratory fed directly into the deliberations and questions set before the conference’s speakers.

The Future Maritime Leaders’ Laboratory was sponsored by Shell