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EXPERT COMMENT

The Integrated Review leads to questions of whether the UK's ambitious plans for its future international relevance will produce partnerships which can deliver.

Intended to provide a comprehensive answer as to the substance of what ‘Global Britain’ – a description in use by the UK government since 2016 – truly means, the long-awaited Integrated Review sends the signal that departing the European Union (EU) does not make for an introspective Britain with a diminished international role.

As an important landmark in the UK’s government’s definition of a post-Brexit international role for the country, it sets out a roadmap for exactly what will be the focus of Britain’s foreign, development, security, and defence policies for the next decade. But in terms of more immediate consequences, the Review is also an important piece of public diplomacy and shows the ‘government machinery’ of the civil service how resources should be allocated for these policies.

Much anticipated by the UK’s allies and diplomatic partners, its publication does give a clearer sense of the UK’s ambitions and priorities. Its message of a renewed interest in the Indo-Pacific region, driven by a concern to contribute to meeting diplomatic and security challenges presented by an assertive China, will be welcome to the US, other Five Eyes allies – where the UK already has defence commitments such as the Five Power Defence Arrangements – and especially Japan.

Click here to continue reading the full version of this Expert Comment on the Chatham House website.