Roskill Lecture 2026: Dame Karen Pierce on ‘Do we still need the special relationship?

The 2026 Roskill Lecture, titled ‘Do we still need the special relationship’, will be delivered by Dame Karen Pierce DCMG.

In this twenty-first Roskill Memorial Lecture, Dame Karen will be drawing on her experience within the UN and her time as Ambassador to the USA to talk about the special relationship with the USA.

Dame Karen Pierce DCMG is currently serving as the UK Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, at SCS 4 (4 star equivalent). From 2020 to 2025 she was the British Ambassador to the United States of America and prior to that, from 2018, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, the first woman appointed in either role and only the second British Ambassador ever to hold both posts.

The Lecture will be held in the Wolfson Hall. It will be signposted from the Porters' Lodge at the entrance of Churchill College.