Book Talk: 'British Statecraft and the Baltic Sea Region' with Dr Hugo Bromley and Prof Brendan Simms

The Centre for Statecraft & National Security is excited to host Dr Hugo Bromley & Prof Brendan Simms for a talk on their new book, British Statecraft and the Baltic Sea Region: A Documentary History.

Following Britain’s departure from the European Union, and an uncertain security environment across the continent, it is more vital than ever that we understand Britain’s relationship with the different states of Europe in historical context. British Statecraft and the Baltic Sea Region is a study of how the British state understood and acted in the Baltic Sea Region between 1600 and the present day. Combining original archival material with historical analysis, the book explores how the region has played a central role in British debates over territorial integrity and the balance of power, and functions as a starting point for further research.

Conceiving of the Baltic as a ‘proximate sea’ shaped by its closeness to Germany on the one hand, and a Eurasian hinterland dominated by Russia on the other, the book argues that this very proximity made the Baltic both the birthplace of modern neutrality, and an area where British political actors wrestled with the state’s willingness to commit militarily to preserve state sovereignty in Europe, against visions of imperial expansion and development. After 1945, the Baltic became where Britain found natural partners in pursuing its vision of European cooperation, anchored in NATO and a looser, less centrally driven EU. Now with Russian aggression clear, and the transatlantic relationship in flux, Britain’s role as a security guarantor to the Baltic Sea Region is more important than ever before.

On the 17^th of September, the Centre for Statecraft and National Security will host Dr Hugo Bromley for the launch of British Statecraft and the Baltic Sea Region. He will be joined in discussion by Prof Brendan Simms.

About the Speakers:

Dr Hugo Bromley is the Engelsberg Applied History Research Fellow at the Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge. A historian of manufacturing, geopolitics, and international trade, he is the author of the book British Statecraft and the Baltic: A Documentary History (Boydell, 2026), as well as recent or forthcoming articles in the English Historical Review and International Security.

Prof Brendan Simms is Professor of the History of European International Relations at the University of Cambridge and the Director of the Centre for Geopolitics. He is the author of eight previous books, including Hitler’s American Gamble, Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy, and most recently The Return of the Great Powers.