Samir Puri

Biography

Dr Samir Puri is a geopolitics expert, strategic advisor and former British diplomat. He served at the RAND Corporation and the UK Foreign Office, where his work covered counter-terrorism and being stationed in Ukraine. He is a lecturer in War Studies at King's College London, has also guest lectured at Cambridge and Johns Hopkins, and was a Senior Fellow at IISS-Asia in Singapore. Samir concentrates on turning complex ideas of international relations and history into clear, practical thinking on some of the world's most complex challenges. 

As the inaugural Director of Chatham House's Centre for Global Governance and Security, Samir led research strategy on a changing world order and international security. He is also Director of Pure Strat, a strategic advisory practice. His work examines how national legacies, geopolitical volatility, structural economic change and technology reshape the world, business plans, and international relations across specific sectors and geographies.

Samir has written a number of books cover themes of global transformation. In The Great Imperial Hangover he examined how the world's imperial legacies continue to influence today’s most challenging issue, from Russia's incursions in Ukraine and Brexit to Trump's America-first policy, China's relations with Africa, and the politics of Modi's India. Westlessness: The Great Global Rebalancing traces the seismic shifts reshaping global politics, demonstrating how demographic, economic, military and cultural changes are pushing nations towards an unprecedented future where wealth moves from West to East and Western dominance becomes ever more contested. Whilst in Russia's Road to War with Ukraine, he traces the relationship between the two countries from the breakup of the Soviet Union to Putin's 2022 invasion, and examining NATO miscalculations and missed opportunities.

With experience as an international observer and analyst of major international events, Samir explores how to understand and navigate a world where Western power is rebalancing, imperial echoes continue to influence politics and populations, and strategic assumptions built on centuries of Western dominance are increasingly fragile. He looks at what institutions, businesses and leaders must understand to prepare for a more diverse, competitive and unpredictable global future.