New Study Suggests UK Foreign Office Requires Rebranding to Move Beyond Colonial Legacy

The UK's Foreign Office is urged to modernize and shed its colonial past in a new report titled ‘The World in 2040: Renewing the UK’s Approach to International Affairs’. The report suggests rebranding as Department for International Affairs or Global Affairs UK to signal a forward-looking approach amidst shifting global power dynamics. Experts emphasize the need for economic diplomacy and a more humble, action-oriented approach in international relations.

The UK's Foreign Office must shed its elitist premises rooted in the colonial past and modernise to reflect a more future-oriented culture, according to a new study by a group of former senior diplomats and an Indian-origin economist.

'The World in 2040: Renewing the UK's Approach to International Affairs', released this week, is a report that follows in-depth roundtable discussions and sets out a series of measures to renew and reform the UK foreign affairs function.

The brand itself of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is brought into question, with a call to establish a brand-new Department for International Affairs or Global Affairs UK instead.

"A new brand would help signal a forward-looking ambition for the 21st century. The very name of the Foreign, Commonwealth (formerly 'Colonial') and Development Office is anchored in the past," reads the report.

"A new Department for International Affairs (or Global Affairs UK) would signal a potentially quite different role. The physical surroundings on King Charles Street [London] also hint at the Foreign Office's identity: somewhat elitist and rooted in the past. Modernising premises – perhaps with fewer colonial era pictures on the walls – might help create a more open working culture and send a clear signal about Britain's future," it notes.

The project involved former Cabinet Secretary Lord Mark Sedwill, former Director General at the FCDO Moazzam Malik, and former British ambassador and advisor to UK prime ministers Tom Fletcher convening a group of experts in Oxford in October last year to debate the UK's approach to international affairs and ideas for reform.

Their deliberations have now resulted in the report, which also involved the work of Indian-origin economist Roli Asthana, who worked at the erstwhile UK Department for International Development (DfID) for over 14 years, covering multiple countries including India.

"The link between politics and economics, development and diplomacy and security and prosperity is stronger than ever. How we plan now to respond in the long term is critical for our future, and that of our children," said Asthana.

The report, a University College London (UCL) collaboration with Hertford College, University of Oxford, is designed to kick-start a conversation about the reform of UK foreign affairs.

"The balance of geopolitical power is shifting alongside economic power. The world's economic gravity is moving back towards the East driven by growth in China, India and South-East Asia," reads the analysis.

"We are moving from a world of relatively stable Cold War blocs and the US-led 'international order' that followed to an increasingly multi-polar 'a la carte' world that is less predictable, more insecure and fragmented," it notes, highlighting the need for the UK to adjust to the changing global landscape.

The experts call for a concerted effort to build the UK's capability for economic diplomacy, cutting across a whole range of government departments, and for Britain to be "more of a 'team player', showing humility and respect, ready to follow and support wherever appropriate".

"We need to build on our strengths and rely on actions rather than rhetoric. The UK has often sought to project an image of 'greatness' to the world that today seems anachronistic. We will be envied for what we are good at, not what we say that we are good at," it points out.

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