A renewed emphasis on using aid in Britain's interest – the strategy is called "tackling global challenges in the national interest" – has civil society commentators particularly exercised.
Johnson said of his conversation with Pence: "We agreed on the importance of the special relationship and the need to tackle global challenges together".
We pledged to make NATO more effective in carrying out its missions; more efficient in the way it uses its resources, and more engaged with the wider world to tackle global challenges such as terrorism, proliferation and cyber warfare.
All of our universities are working closely with new industries, design and technologies to make new discoveries that will change lives and tackle global challenges; playing a central role in both our economy and society.
The UK's new aid strategy, entitled "tackling global challenges in the national interest", is explicit that aid spending should also benefit the UK, for example, by promoting "economic development and prosperity", which will "strengthen UK trade and investment opportunities".
Defending the decision to continue to ringfence aid spending while cutting other areas, the Treasury vowed to prove "there is no distinction between reducing poverty, tackling global challenges and serving our national interest – all are inextricably linked".
Roman Krznaric, author of Empathy, a Handbook for Revolution, says: "There has been an extraordinary shift … a concept that has been buried in psychology textbooks for nearly a century – empathy – is coming to be seen as one of the fundamental forces for tackling global challenges".
There is a need for systemic change to overcome old paradigms (like the blind pursuit of GDP growth), which have proven inappropriate to tackle global challenges.
They want to make an impact by providing commercial benefits to the UK, by supporting UK research, influencing policy, and helping to tackle global challenges.
The second block of recommendations aims to strengthen research-performing institutions in order to make objectives related to international S&T cooperation attainable (e.g. tackling global challenges).
