Viscount Waverley – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Viscount Waverley on 2016-04-21.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the budget apportioned to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is sufficient for the development of the knowledge, understanding and policy sophistication required in respect of the Islamic world.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is devoting considerable resource to strengthening the organisation’s expertise and skills, including geographical, language and other relevant expertise, such as understanding the Islamic world. The opening of the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy last year has given new impetus and structure to this work. There is a growing range of formal and informal learning in London and throughout the FCO network, including better sharing of knowledge internally and increased access to external expertise. We put time and effort into understanding political trends globally including the “Islamic” element of political Islam. Our online Foundation Level course includes a basic religious literacy module. Our diplomatic missions report regularly on trends in political Islam and our research analyst cadre provide in-depth expertise, analysis and links to academics and think tanks. The FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Department run training courses on religion and foreign policy which serve as a practitioner level religion/foreign policy module for the Diplomatic Academy. We also offer training on contemporary Islam and its role within politics and society in various regional contexts.
