Two years of the UK coalition government’s engagement with the world – Conference

UK's first coalition Government since the Second World War came into power after the 2010
elections.

Whilst the Government incorporated the vision of the two political parties in their foreign policy,
the task ahead was challenging. 

The emergence of new demographic and economic power in the world has brought new shapers to
influence at the international scene. The complexity of the security issues with terrorism issues and
the pace of changes in different regions of strategic importance to the UK national interests present
some serious challenges that the coalition government had to deal with during their first two years in
office.

The 2 years of the UK coalition Government’s engagement with the world conference is a platform for
debate and assessment by experts. The conference will assess the UK’s foreign policy from different
angles. The coalition Government took power in a very fragile global economic environment with the
financial crisis hitting strongly their European neighbours at the Euro Zone. The UK has to expand its
trade relations into new regions to hedge to uncertainties associated with its traditional markets.
How successful has the UK foreign policy been in its trade dimensions? Did the UK adopt the right
approach in its relationship with potential trade partners?

The past two years have been dominated by uncertainty and loaded with events that put the coalition
Government under serious challenge related to the homogeneity of their policies and tested the
strength of their union. The relationship with the EU is one of these areas in which there were many
differences in policies between the two parties have arisen. After two years, was the UK foreign policy
a policy of two parties or has one party had to compromise? With voices from the Conservative party
questioning the relationship with the EU, what is the future of the homogeneity of the coalition? What
is the future of the relationship with the EU?

The Conference will also discuss international security issues that the coalition Government was 
faced with from the outset. Afghanistan, Iran’s nuclear programme and the instability in the Middle 
East North Africa have prevailed in foreign policy agendas. What has been the role of the UK in these 
regions? How did the UK perform in these areas? Has the approach to the special relationship with 
the US changed?

For further information including programme and speakers list, please visit:
www.grassrootdiplomat.org/diplomatic-events