According to a group of former Whitehall officials and diplomats, which included former Cabinet Secretary Lord Sedwill, the department “all too often operates like a giant private office for the foreign secretary of the day” and should be focusing on achieving the long-term goals of the UK.
2040 World: Rejuvenating The committee, which also included former Foreign Office director general Moazzam Malik and Number 10 adviser Tom Fletcher, convened in Oxford to discuss a shift in strategy before writing The UK’s Approach To International Affairs.
They stated that because “effective solutions to global problems in a multi-polar world need a wider array of leaders,” the UK should not always consider itself as the leader in attempts to handle global concerns and instead should be a “team player.”
According to the analysis, the UK will not be able to defend its interests in the same manner by depending solely on its established alliances with the US and Europe as we approach 2040 and beyond.
