Updated 25 May 2025-RL
Group Risk Assessment - 9 May 2024
We are still a relatively new group, having held our first meeting in May 2023. We meet at the Admiral Rodney in Southwell from 1.45-4.15pm on the second Thursday of each month. "The Admiral" has friendly staff, we like their bar facilities and conservatory room, so it works for all!
We aim to learn, and teach each other to weave geography, economics, politics, history, sociology (and more) into a web that gives us greater understanding of our world. Our experience so far is of lively involvement, discussion, debate, sharing of research, ideas, facts and “unknowns” about the global issues of today, the past and the future. Plenty of laughter is included, despite the serious nature of the topics discussed.
2025 sessions:
We normally meeting on the 2nd Thursday, and dates in 2025 are:
9 Jan, 13 Feb, 13 Mar, 24 Apr, 8 May, 12 Jun, 10 Jul, 14 Aug, 11 Sep, 9 Oct, 13 Nov, 11 Dec.
Notes for prospective new members:
Discussion Topics plan:
Group Risk Assessment - 9 May 2024
We are still a relatively new group, having held our first meeting in May 2023. We meet at the Admiral Rodney in Southwell from 1.45-4.15pm on the second Thursday of each month. "The Admiral" has friendly staff, we like their bar facilities and conservatory room, so it works for all!
We aim to learn, and teach each other to weave geography, economics, politics, history, sociology (and more) into a web that gives us greater understanding of our world. Our experience so far is of lively involvement, discussion, debate, sharing of research, ideas, facts and “unknowns” about the global issues of today, the past and the future. Plenty of laughter is included, despite the serious nature of the topics discussed.
- Location & Time: The Admiral Rodney in Southwell is happy to host at a time when their bar is quiet. Vocal lubrication on tap.... We meet from 1.45 pm to 4.15 pm, normally on the second Thursday afternoon of each month though this can change at holiday periods (Easter/Summer)
- New Members are welcome: Eighteen months on, we are now almost full, with around 9-10 members at most meetings. We want to keep the discussion group small enough to allow for all to participate in discussion. However, worry not, as we have agreed to "split" rather than become "full" should we increase much further in size. If you are thinking of joining us, whether or not you are already a member of Southwell u3a, you will be welcome to join us for a session or two. You may find it useful to look at some of the topics discussed so far (see next bullet point) and notes about how our group runs, which are further down this page after the 2025 session details.
- Discussion Topics: A brief summary of the main topics discussed so far is here
- 2023 sessions
- 2024 sessions
2025 sessions:
We normally meeting on the 2nd Thursday, and dates in 2025 are:
9 Jan, 13 Feb, 13 Mar, 24 Apr, 8 May, 12 Jun, 10 Jul, 14 Aug, 11 Sep, 9 Oct, 13 Nov, 11 Dec.
- 9 Jan 25: Geoff led this session as a "Retrospective": "Was 2007 the pinnacle of ‘Western Liberal Democracies’ power?" Click here to view related preparatory notes for Jan 2025
- 13 Feb 25: Martin led this session "Trump Taxes and Tariffs: Geopolitical Repercussions" Click here to view related preparatory notes for Feb 2025. This session ended up as "Trump and the roll-back of DEI, Wokeism and Big State", then moved on to AI and technological advances/rivalry
- 11 Mar 25: This session continued discussion about the USA, plus energy security and deep borehole potential, and discussion about AI and related technologies.
- 24 Apr 25: Rik led "The Geopolitics of Technological Supremacy: AI, robotics, nano-technology and quantum computing" Click here to view related preparatory notes for April 2025 plus "AI Terminology and SWOT". This session also included discussion about the USA, and 100 days into the Trump presidency the global implications for the dramatic shifts in internal and foreign policy. We discussed similarities with 1930's Germany.
- 8 May 25: RF led on "The Blob", and this touched on "Leading the Competition: Liberal Democracies or Autocracies? Click here to view related preparatory notes for May 2025
- 25 May 25: Addendum for 24 Apr 25: It doesn’t seem five minutes since April when we were discussing AI and drone technology. This short video gives a fascinating insight of how far China is ahead of ourselves in its creative & innovative uses of both AI and drones.
- 12 Jun 25: JT will lead "The Geopolitics of International Crime" Click here to view related preparatory notes for June 2025
- 10 Jul 25: Held open for current geopolitical issues. I'll post related preparatory notes for July 2025 here nearer the meeting.
- 14 Aug 25: This is the 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 against Japan: RL will lead "Japanese Geopolitics of the last 80 years: What might the next 80 have in store?" Click here to view related preparatory notes for August 2025
- 11 Sep 25: Held open for current geopolitical issues. Click here to view related preparatory notes for September 2025
- 9 Oct 25: Held open for current geopolitical issues. Click here to view related preparatory notes for October 2025
- 13 Nov 25: Held open for current geopolitical issues. Click here to view related preparatory notes for November 2025
- 11 Dec 25: Probable review of significant geopolitical events of the year. Click here to view related preparatory notes for December 2025
- Future Discussion Topics: Topics for future meetings could be any on our list of topics embedded at the foot of this page, though the following are currently "more likely", depending on world events:
- Look at the Middle East / Israel/ Jew/Muslim tensions and how this fits into the global picture
- Further investigation of AI and robotics, for peace, societal good, and potential for significant harm & weaponisation
- Look at “Underwater and Space: The additional new battlegrounds. Last year we discussed the Arctic as a new geopolitical minefield, but this was before both Trump and China raised the stakes - so another session on the Arctic may be in order.
- Climate Change and its geopolitical impacts (a further look at global migration/refugee issues would form one part of this)
- Most of our meetings, whatever the topic, so far have included discussion about China, reflecting its growing geopolitical significance: We will no doubt return to "China" topics, but have agreed to try to avoid an overload of sino-centric topics for a while. Several of us are interested to discuss how far the aims of the CCP align with the wishes of its people and the reality of its economic strength.
Notes for prospective new members:
- Our Inspiration: Internationally, remarkably few other u3a organisations have a “Geopolitics Interest Group”, but whilst Elmbridge, Ballerat and Victoria are a tad far to travel to, but as we were starting up the following sites gave ideas for possible content, and an overview of "What is Geopolitics about": We are grateful to these for helping us as we started up:
- What is Geopolitics about? We have agreed what we think Geopolitics is about. No doubt this will change over time, but here is our working summary: "What is Geopolitics"(opens in a new window as a .PDF)
- Ethos: We agree it is good to be challenged with alternative points of view, but NOT to feel threatened, undermined or intimidated. We agree that we must guard against "confirmation bias", i.e. accepting only what we already believe: Hearing opposing views, considering, fact-finding, thinking and debating, but critically not just tolerating "opposing" or challenging views but actively encouraging such must be part of our ethos, along with supporting each other as we feel challenged. Supportive comments and laughter are encouraged
- Leadership and Learning: We agree that none of us are "experts", and we can all learn from each other. Each of us can find out things that the rest of us may be interested to learn about For now, Rik has agreed to coordinate/lead/chair our discussions as primus inter pares: He is happy to have this reviewed every few months, should one or more other members wish to take on any "leader" roles, and is keen that we are as democratic as we reasonably can be.
- "Introducer": We have agreed that whilst Rik chairs, each of us will take it in turn to a) choose a topic and b) introduce it at the agreed date. We agreed this must be an enjoyable and stress-free duty, and here are some hopefully reassuring guidelines
- Book Recommendations: Several of us are reading books about geopolitics and related fields, and we tell each other about these and swapping reading material. For any members unable to attend a meeting, we are noting our recommendations here for easy reference.
- Group Size: We discussed what we felt the optimum size of our group should be: Too small a number present limits discussion, knowledge and the opportunity for a wide range of views. Too many limits the opportunity for all to feel they have contributed. The consensus was that we prefer meetings with around 5 to 12 participants, depending to some extent on personalities and recognising that we will rarely have everyone present. Should we grow above 12 attendees, we could optionally either break into two groups OR to meet in one location with a breakout facility, discuss in two sub-groups, then join for a plenary. We can therefore grow further.
- Confidentiality and Contacts: Those of us present at the July 23 meeting agreed it would be helpful to share contact details. Given GDPR and other concerns, we will only share "first name" unless you send an email to Rik giving permission for other details.
- Meeting plan: These are "flexible" but this serves to give a flavour of a typical session:
- 5 mins: Welcome/update
- 60 mins: One of us will introduce the topic they have chosen in advance from our "Topics List". We then move to chaired open discussion.
- 5 mins max: Agreement of main points raised/made/summary. Decision whether to continue this topic the following month after we have each has time to reflect and research at a later session, or summarise and close the topic.
- 10 mins: Refreshment break/refill glasses at the bar. Social conversation is recommended, unless a discussion topic has fired us up!
- 50 mins max: We share "Good News Stories" usually for around 10 minutes (see our "Group Risk Assessment" at the top of this page, and you will understand why we do this!). Those who wish to, put forward thoughts about "Hot Geopolitical News" that may or may have not hit headlines in the past month, and we discuss these. We might agree that some developments warrant adding to our "Topics List" for more in-depth treatment at a later meeting.
- 5 mins: Wrap-up, look forward to next session perhaps including a short explanation of the following month's main topic. This usually gives us a few minutes to tidy up before we end at 4.15.
Discussion Topics plan:
- In June 2023 Rik circulated a list of possible topics. This has been further refined and augmented, and is now embedded at the foot of this web page, updated as new topics are suggested
- We have agreed that we will each in turn choose a topic from the list, so that over time we will each have our own personal top choice of topic discussed. We have drawn names out of a hat, and await topic choices from each member as their turn comes.
- As a reserve in case of illness or other unexpected absence, the following month's topic+member will step in.
- Any member can "opt out" of choosing a topic: No pressure!
- We realise that none of us are world authorities on any of the topics, so the "Member's topic introduction" may be no more than reading out the title.... or they may spend up to 10 minutes explaining why they feel the topic is important, what they know, and important aspects to discuss.
- If a 2/3rds+ majority agree, then any topic suggested as warranting more discussion can be carried forward to continue as the topic for the next month, with all of the later topics moved later by one month.
- The list of possible topics is likely to expand over time, with inclusion of some items from our "Hot Geopolitical News" section.
- Topics in bold on the list below indicate that Rik has prepared an introduction sheet on this topic. Each takes an hour or so to prepare, so don't expect them all to have such a sheet anytime soon!
Our first meeting at the Admiral Rodney, looking at a truly global view of our planet
Think you might be interested in joining this group?
If interested, click on Contact Us: The email will go direct to the Webmaster. That’s me, Rik, the Webmaster. I'm happy to be the leader / co-leader, or in time hand on or work with any other member who would like to lead.
If interested, click on Contact Us: The email will go direct to the Webmaster. That’s me, Rik, the Webmaster. I'm happy to be the leader / co-leader, or in time hand on or work with any other member who would like to lead.