Recommendations & Conclusions
19 items
1
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The Integrated Review is a timely and necessary response to a world characterised by ever-strengthening interconnection and rapid technological change.
Government response. 1.1 We agree with the Committee’s assessment that this is the right time for the Integrated Review. The Review is an opportunity to define and strengthen our place in the world at a time when the global landscape is changing …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
2
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The world is increasingly riven by global competition rather than cooperation.
Government response. 2.1 We agree that geopolitical change and competition are major global trends. Western democracies’ share of economic power has declined: the G7’s share of world GDP in 1975 was 62%; it is now 45%. Conflict and instability, exacerbated by the …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
3
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
In part, this global competition is driven by geo–political change. But this global competition is also a battle between competing visions and mindsets. And the global competition is increasingly one between different technical systems.
Government response. 3.1 The growing complexity within the international system makes addressing transnational challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly difficult. Despite this, there have been positive aspects to the multilateral response on COVID-19 on which we can build. For example, the …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
4
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
Such competition has stalled, and to some degree reversed, cooperation through multilateral organisations. The drive towards international arbitration is increasingly challenged by great power rivalry and influence projection. The world lacks consensus-building leadership. Global divides are widening, and there is a risk of the world’s challenges becoming more abundant, more …
Government response. 4.1 We agree that there is increasing geo-political friction. The open international order that the UK co-founded 75 years ago is being contested. The UK is committed to the international system and the global order that has underpinned our mutual …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
5
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
An increasingly assertive and revisionist China has created geo-political friction with a more introspective United States. China and Russia, as leading authoritarian and revisionist powers, have also been more adept than their ideological rivals at realising where their capacity for international influence lies and harnessing the full spectrum of such …
Government response. 4.1 We agree that there is increasing geo-political friction. The open international order that the UK co-founded 75 years ago is being contested. The UK is committed to the international system and the global order that has underpinned our mutual …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
6
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The UK’s own international policy has been adrift. It has lacked clarity.
Government response. 6.1 The UK will continue to be a leading voice in upholding and defending the rule of law, democracy, global free trade and human rights. We will continue to call out serious breaches of international norms. The Magnitsky sanctions regime …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
7
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
It has also lacked confidence. Our contributors the world over were clear that the UK has recently appeared less ambitious and more absent in its global role
Government response. 7.1 We disagree with the claim that Britain abroad is less than the sum of its parts. The Prime Minister has set out his ambition to reform the way that the UK Government operates internationally and for all UK Government …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
8
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
None of our contributors wanted the UK to stand back or keep quiet. All of them urged the UK to step up, do more, and play a more impactful role in the world. They highlighted the positive contribution that the UK could make to international relations, and the negative implications …
Government response. 8.1 As the Prime Minister stated on 19 November, the Integrated Review will be published in the new year. It will define the long-term strategic aims for our national security and foreign policy, including a more strategic approach to development. …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
9
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The UK has good reason to be confident in the capabilities of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), which were praised by contributors from around the world.
Government response. 9.1 We agree that our diplomatic resourcing should be led by our strategic foreign policy priorities, and it is these that determine our resourcing decisions. The FCDO secured a £65 million (5%) increase in non-ODA funding in the 2020 Spending …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
10
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The UK has a strong capacity to use its memberships and influence to bring countries together in dialogue. Contributors also admired the UK as a pragmatic country whose thought leadership, and the legal drafting capabilities of the FCDO’s lawyers, can bring the world together through agreed, stable and predictable frameworks. …
Government response. 10.1 The UK’s G7 Presidency and COP26 next year will provide two significant platforms to work with others to address global challenges, while projecting UK values and advancing our national interests. Our focus for the Presidency will be to tackle …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
11
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
But the UK will have the greatest impact abroad if it uses its range of assets and capabilities coherently. It is unlikely that the merger of the Department for A brave new Britain? The future of the UK’s international policy 19 International Development (DFID) and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office …
Government response. 11.1 The Committee is correct to note the changing character of threats to UK interests. In an uncertain world, our ability as a nation to prepare for, withstand and recover from crisis - our resilience - is as critical to …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
12
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The Integrated Review must address a lack of clear strategic vision, a lack of confidence, and lack of coherent implementation that has undermined recent international policy by the UK. The Review should respond, and be seen to respond, to the consultation that it has undertaken and the challenge that a …
Government response. 12.1 The Government is committed to strengthening our position in an intensely competitive world by making sensible changes. The Integrated Review will bring together all relevant instruments in support of the Government’s objectives for national security and international policy. The …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
13
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The UK intends to prioritise its promotion of trade, and trade policy has the capacity to become a significant aspect of the UK’s international influence. But, if it is not coordinated with other UK priorities abroad, then the elevation of trade risks introducing further incoherence into the UK’s international policy. …
Government response. 13.1 The Government agrees with the Committee’s view on the importance of sustaining the UK’s strong, historic ties with European states. The UK will continue to work intensively with our European partners on our shared security challenges. Being outside the …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
14
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
We recommend that, as part of its problem-solving and burden sharing role, the FCDO prioritises mediation, conflict resolution, and atrocity prevention. And we recommend that the Government equips the FCDO with an enhanced and institutionalised capability to coordinate with the Ministry of Defence in this space, to maximise the coherence …
Government response. 14.1 We have detailed above (para 7.1) the measures the Government is taking to reform the way that UK Government operates internationally to maximise the impact of all our activity. 14.2 As announced by the Prime Minister on 16 June …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
15
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
Soft power is key to the UK’s international influence. It is about much more than culture: the way it is used by some nations suggests it is the entire capability of the state short of war, for others it is the power of attraction. The Government must not become complacent …
Government response. 15.1 While we await publication of the Integrated Review, we would not want to prejudge its outcomes. We agree that the creation of FCDO provides an opportunity to enhance our impact on conflict resolution and atrocity prevention through the integration …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
16
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
We recommend that the UK convene and catalyse negotiations to reform multinational organisations: seeking to maintain their relevance and their benefit for all rather A brave new Britain? The future of the UK’s international policy 21 than a few. Our Committee will examine this subject, and make more detailed recommendations, …
Government response. 17.1 We agree with the Committee’s recommendation. We have already been working to convene and catalyse negotiations to reform multinational organisations such as the UN’s Committees and Executive Boards, NATO, the Development Assistance Committee, and the Commonwealth, in order to …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
17
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
The UK should use its convening power and thought leadership to bring together nimble networks of like-minded nations by agreeing a baseline for cooperation between them. These coalitions would be open, issue-based, fleet-footed, overlapping, and even temporary: a ‘vari-lateral’ system.
Government response. 17.1 We agree with the Committee’s recommendation. We have already been working to convene and catalyse negotiations to reform multinational organisations such as the UN’s Committees and Executive Boards, NATO, the Development Assistance Committee, and the Commonwealth, in order to …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
18
Conclusion
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
We welcome the Government’s commitment to make global health security and working to counter climate change priorities within the UK’s international policy. Our Committee will examine these subject areas through its inquiries into ‘Environmental diplomacy’ and ‘Global health security’.
Government response. 18.1 We agree that the UK should be agile and flexible in its approach to partnerships. We will be pragmatic and open minded, working with countries with whom we find common cause, including emerging and regional powers. For example, on …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
19
Recommendation
Fourth Report: A brave new Britain? The…
We recommend that: i) The UK use its convening power and thought leadership to seek agreement for regulations relating to frontier sectors such as emerging technologies, the cyber and space domains: mitigating threats by agreeing standards and allowing states instead to access opportunities for exchange, innovation, and mutual benefit. ii) …
Government response. 19.1 We agree with the committee’s recommendation. Climate change and global health security - both their causes and impact – are priorities for the FCDO’s diplomatic and development work. 19.2 The UK has a strong record in global health security. …
Foreign and Commonwealth Office