The world will welcome the new ‘Global Britain’

Just what does ‘Global Britain’ actually mean? In the five years since the UK’s foreign policy was thrown into chaos after the EU Referendum, this question has reverberated without reply. In the publication of its Integrated Review of the UK’s Defence, Security, Development and Foreign Policy today, the UK Government has finally put its cards on the table.

‘Global Britain’ is no longer simply a slogan, but a roadmap underpinning a fundamental shift in our international ambitions. The Global Britain set out in the Review is a dynamic, forward-looking, tech-savvy nation, in which our domestic and international resilience is seen as one.

The phrase ‘Global Britain’ was conjured in those early, anxious months in the aftermath of the referendum, to allay fears among both the British people and our allies that our decision to part ways with the EU could signal a much broader retreat from the world stage. As the years dragged on, and British politics remained consumed in an internal parliamentary psychodrama, serious questions were raised about the genuine substance behind this clever slogan.