The 31^st annual conference of the British International History Group (BIHG) was held at Lancaster 5-7 September 2019, hosted by the Centre for War and Diplomacy (CWD).

Established in 1987, BIHG is part of the British International Studies Association, and has over 700 members from Asia, Europe and North America. Working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the UK National Archives, it brings together senior academics, postgraduates and early career researchers to foster new research, primarily through its annual conference.

Over 100 delegates from across the world – from postgraduates to leading academics, archivists and staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office – gathered at Lancaster to share research on international history, with papers exploring new research on international affairs through both established and new approaches.

The conference began with a roundtable discussion on the relationship between International and Military History, chaired by BIHG Vice-Chair Dr James Ellison (Queen Mary), with contributions from Dr Juliette Desplat (TNA), Dr Michael Hopkins (Liverpool) and Professor Michael Hughes (Lancaster).

Kathleen Burke, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, gave the conference's keynote lecture, on 'Lubricating Diplomacy: the Use of Wine'. This followed a workshop for postgraduate and early career researchers.

Dr Marco Wyss, Director of CWD, who organised the conference at Lancaster, said: 'This year’s BIHG conference was a great success, showcasing the best and most innovative research in international history in a friendly and encouraging atmosphere. This was made possible by the BIHG Committee and delegates, as well as of course the CWD’s wonderful conference team on the ground.'

The BIHG Annual Conference follows the recent annual gathering of the Transatlantic Studies Association, hosted by the CWD at Lancaster in July 2019. The New Researchers' Conference of the British Commission for Military History will also be hosted by the CWD at Lancaster, in November 2019.