Diplomatic departures: negotiating Britain’s international outreach in the contemporary world

In recent years, the expansion of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office network into new countries has generated increasing interest in the role of the places and spaces where diplomacy is made, in the international outreach of the United Kingdom and in the interactions between state and non-state actors and initiatives in delivering foreign policy objectives. What has received perhaps less sustained attention is the impact of diplomatic departures in Britain and in the British diplomatic network on the rethinking of Britain’s influence and power (hard, soft and smart). These departures - from the more dramatic to the more mundane - will be the focus of this conference, which will reflect on the adaptability and resilience of Britain’s international networks, and on what characterises both British diplomacy and Britain as a diplomatic space.