The British Foreign Office since 1945

1982 is the bicentenary of the Foreign Office. Since 1945 the dominant theme of British foreign policy has been one of decline, humiliation and failure. Although the Foreign Office had its weaknesses it would be wrong to saddle it with the main responsibility for decline. Britain's national decline had deep-seated causes, principally the collapse of economic and financial power after 1945 and the emergence of the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. Since 1945 the framework of foreign policy making has changed profoundly. Firstly it is no longer a national preserve. In some major areas of diplomacy British policy is formed wholly within a European context. Secondly, the Foreign Office no longer has a virtual monopoly of overseas representation. Its chief role today is that of a co-ordinating body working with the many other Whitehall departments involved in overseas policy. Bread and butter diplomacy, the battle for economic survival, has replaced the traditional focus on external security and political influence. The main weakness of British diplomats and foreign secretaries has been a lack of foresight and strategic thinking, an excessive pragmatism.Adamthwaite Anthony. The British Foreign Office since 1945. In: Opinion publique et politique extérieure en Europe. III. 1940-1981. Actes du colloque de Rome (17-20 février 1982) Rome : École Française de Rome, 1985. pp. 201-211. (Publications de l'École française de Rome, 54-3