Description
After the decision of the UK to leave the EU, the UK Government established and promoted the idea of ‘Global Britain’, which is a vague concept which needs to be sharpened, and perhaps after the resignation of Boris Johnson as UK prime minister, a more marginal consideration. However, the truth is that the UK is no longer part of one of the world’s largest economic blocs and continues searching for a new role in the international community. This paper argues that the first step that the UK needs to take is to rebuild its Global identity in an inclusive manner, in part through its Overseas Territories. Aside from the historical and even nostalgic reasons, these territories, under British sovereignty, encapsulate British global identity and are part of the UK in a broad sense. The key issue, from a pragmatic point of view, lies in the fact that all of the territories are connected to different regional networks around the world and provide a great opportunity for the UK to extend its diplomatic, economic and environmental reach. However, this strategy not only needs to consider their contribution to ‘Global Britain’, but also the contribution that the UK can make to help the territories meet their current and varied challenges, including in some cases the conferring of more constitutional powers in areas such as external relations. In short, a relationship that is seen by both parties as advantageous.
