As the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office marked its first birthday on Sept. 2, its leader, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, fought to save his job while outrage grew over his handling of the Afghanistan crisis.
While he remains in the post, it was an ignominious way for the department to celebrate the one-year anniversary. Skeptics of FCDO’s performance thus far might suggest that it was also fitting.
FCDO’s first year was characterized by crises of pandemic and policy. Formed from the merger of the Department for International Development and Foreign & Commonwealth Office, FCDO was launched to “unite our aid with our diplomacy and bring together our international effort,” according to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who unexpectedly announced the move on June 16, 2020. The position of international development secretary was eliminated, and officials set out to build a “blended new organization.”