The UK government’s “Global Britain” strategy, which aims to propel the nation towards a dynamic future outside the EU, has got off to a slow start with the country falling out of the top 10 in a leading ranking of diplomatic powers.
The latest edition of the Lowy Institute think-tank’s global diplomacy index, which measures the size and reach of countries’ diplomatic networks, ranks the UK 11th out of 61 states. This position represents a drop of two places since the index was first released in 2016 and ranks Britain behind Italy, Spain and Brazil.
China has overtaken the US as the country with the largest diplomatic network, with 276 diplomatic posts around the world — three more than Washington — and ahead of third-ranked France. Beijing ranked behind both countries when the index was first published three years ago.
The number of UK embassies has remained steady at 149 since the 2016 rankings were released. But the government has closed or downgraded 11 consulates and diplomatic offices, including posts in St Petersburg, Russia and Alexandria, Egypt, according to the Lowy index.
“While the stakes of Brexit are highest for the UK, it has been slow off the mark in preparing its diplomats for Brexit,” said Bonnie Bley, research fellow at Lowy.
“By contrast, Ireland and the Netherlands have taken determined steps to boost their networks as part of their Brexit strategies, adding eight and seven posts respectively.” [...]
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