a pop-up strategy centre weaving shared direction on economic, environmental and national security issues

Traditional debates about defence often focus on hardware, budgets, or alliance politics in isolation. Loom takes a different approach: connecting defence to wider questions of economic resilience, public trust, and the industries that underpin national strength. We explore how rearmament can be more than a military exercise—how it can drive industrial renewal, strengthen energy & environmental resilience, and build legitimacy with the public at a moment when security threats are multiplying. As part of this work, Loom curates the Loom 100—a set of dual-use technologies with the power to shape both security and society in the years ahead.

Illicit finance, illegal people trafficking, and organised corruption don’t respect borders or policy silos, and in many countries environmental crime is now one of their biggest drivers. From illegal mining and logging to illegal fishing and wildlife trade, criminal networks are reshaping landscapes as well as economies, in many cases worsening violence and disorder and generating even more revenue for transnational criminal networks than narcotics. Loom’s approach is to see these crimes as systemic threats to security, prosperity, and trust. By linking security, environmental, and economic strategies, we aim to disrupt illicit economies while opening space for legitimate investment and stronger, more sustainable growth. As one strand of this work, Loom is examining how to align regional and international actors against environmental crime in Latin America.

National strength today depends on protecting the industries and innovations that underpin both economic prosperity and security. Loom examines how nations can safeguard their technological edge in a world of fast-moving innovation and strategic competition. We connect trade, finance, defence, and public policy to ask: which industries and technologies are too vital to lose, and how can they be secured without stifling innovation? By drawing together unusual partners—from labs and startups to ministries and investors—we look for new strategies that ensure technological leadership is durable, legitimate, and aligned with the public’s priorities.

The Arctic is no longer peripheral—it is a crossroads of climate change, security, and geo-economics. Yet strategies remain fragmented, divided between scientific, military, business, and foreign policy silos. Loom’s New Arctic Agenda takes a pan-Arctic view, bringing together security, energy, environmental, and economic interests to shape a strategy that reflects the region’s global importance. As one strand of this work, Loom is exploring the maritime domain—examining how new routes, undersea infrastructure, and resource pressures will shape the future of Arctic governance.

Energy and supply chains are the foundations of sovereignty. Loom’s work in this space looks at how nations can reduce vulnerabilities, withstand expensive shocks, and build systems that are both resilient and sustainable. We explore how overdependence on a supplier —whether for critical minerals, energy fuels and technologies, or manufacturing inputs—creates hidden risks that ripple across security, affordability, climate, and the economy. One project on Europe’s dependence on China takes a nuanced approach: identifying where exposure is tolerable, and where over-reliance undermines both national security and the energy transition.  By connecting supply-chain resilience to climate ambition and public priorities, we aim to help leaders chart strategies that are secure, balanced, and durable.

The world’s biological wealth—its biodiversity, genetic resources, and traditional knowledge—has too often been exploited in a way that does not balance public priorities. Loom reframes this challenge as an opportunity: how to move from biopiracy to bioprosperity? We bring together industrialists, scientists, policymakers, Indigenous communities, tech leaders, and security experts to shape strategies that protect natural resources while unlocking fair and sustainable economic value. This work connects global questions of trade, health, and security with local opportunities for growth, innovation and stewardship. As one strand of this agenda, Loom is examining how biodiversity can be governed in ways that foster new industries, benefit people, safeguard the world’s most important ecosystems, and strengthen sovereignty.