"In London we give foreign policy advice to Ministers and ensure that international angles are taken into account in Whitehall's policy process. We negotiate with other capitals and advise on how to achieve UK objectives in other countries and in international organisations. We ensure that the Government's complex dealings with other countries are coherently managed.
In our Posts abroad, staff from the FCO, members of other Government Departments and the Armed Forces, and local staff of many nationalities advance the policies of the Government and provide the public services described above. They are expert at gathering, analysing and sharing information, and at international negotiation. They help to form policy in London, and to advocate and implement it abroad. They help other countries on issues like security, human rights and democracy building.
In many places abroad FCO staff take up high profile and sometimes dangerous positions: for example advising the President of Afghanistan, guiding the political and economic reconstruction of Iraq, or working on the front line in the West Bank."
"The Role of the FCO," FCO website (accessed on Aug. 28, 2009)
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