Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Diplomatic Service Selection UK Foreign, Security and Development Policy Syllabus

What is the BRICS grouping and what does its expansion signify?

Originally Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — an emerging-economy bloc. From 2024 it expanded to include states such as the UAE, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, signalling a push for a more multipolar order and reform of global governance.

What is the CPTPP and what is the UK's status within it?

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. The UK formally acceded in December 2024, becoming its first European member and gaining access to a bloc of around 12 economies.

What is the Department for Business and Trade's role relative to the FCDO?

DBT (created 2023) leads on trade policy and negotiating Free Trade Agreements, while the FCDO provides diplomatic support, market access advocacy overseas, and aligns trade with foreign-policy objectives.

What is "economic diplomacy" as practised by the FCDO?

The use of diplomatic networks and statecraft to advance UK prosperity — promoting exports and inward investment, securing supply-chain and energy resilience, and shaping international economic rules in the national interest.

What is the legal target for UK Official Development Assistance (ODA), and how has it changed?

The International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015 set a legal target of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI). In 2021 the government temporarily reduced it to 0.5% of GNI on fiscal grounds, with intent to return to 0.7% when fiscal tests are met.

What does the OECD-DAC definition require for spending to count as ODA?

Flows to countries on the DAC list of recipients (or to multilateral institutions) that are administered with the promotion of economic development and welfare as the main objective and are concessional in character.

What are the UK's stated strategic development objectives under the 2022 International Development Strategy?

(1) Deliver honest, reliable investment (e.g. British Investment Partnerships); (2) provide women and girls with freedom and choice; (3) step up on humanitarian assistance; and (4) take forward work on climate, nature and global health.

How many Sustainable Development Goals are there, what is the target year, and what framework superseded?

There are 17 SDGs with 169 targets, adopted in 2015 under the UN's "2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." They succeeded the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which ran 2000-2015.

State the overarching principle of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

"Leave No One Behind" (LNOB) — a commitment to reach the poorest and most marginalised first and to eradicate extreme poverty, ensuring progress is inclusive and universal.

Which three SDGs cover poverty, hunger, and gender equality respectively?

SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality).

What is SDG 13 and how does it relate to the SDGs' breadth?

SDG 13 is "Climate Action." It reflects the integration of environmental sustainability across the goals, recognising climate change as a threat to development gains across all 17 SDGs.

What are the four humanitarian principles that govern emergency response?

Humanity (alleviate suffering and protect life), Neutrality (do not take sides), Impartiality (aid based on need alone, without discrimination), and Independence (autonomy from political, economic or military objectives).

Which UN body coordinates international humanitarian response?

OCHA — the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — led by the Emergency Relief Coordinator. It runs the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and consolidated humanitarian appeals.

What is the "cluster system" in humanitarian coordination?

Groups of UN agencies and NGOs organised by sector (e.g. health led by WHO, food security by WFP/FAO, protection by UNHCR) to coordinate response and avoid gaps and duplication in emergencies.

What distinguishes a refugee from an internally displaced person (IDP) under international law?

A refugee has crossed an international border and is protected under the 1951 Refugee Convention; an IDP has been forced to flee but remains within their own country and is not covered by the Refugee Convention.

What is the principle of non-refoulement?

A core rule of the 1951 Refugee Convention prohibiting states from returning refugees or asylum seekers to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened on protected grounds.

What were the key outcomes of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate?

To hold the global average temperature rise to well below $2\,^{\circ}\text{C}$ above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to $1.5\,^{\circ}\text{C}$; it relies on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and five-yearly global stocktakes.

What was the $100 billion climate finance pledge and who made it?

At COP15 (Copenhagen, 2009) developed countries pledged to mobilise $100\text{ billion}$ per year by 2020 to support developing countries' climate action. The goal was reported as met for the first time in 2022.

What major UK initiative came out of COP26, which the UK hosted?

The Glasgow Climate Pact (2021), which called for a "phase-down" of unabated coal power; the UK also championed the goal of keeping $1.5\,^{\circ}\text{C}$ "alive" and pledged International Climate Finance.

What is the "Loss and Damage" fund agreed at COP27/COP28?

A dedicated fund (agreed in principle at COP27, 2022, and operationalised at COP28, 2023) to help vulnerable developing countries respond to the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

What is the "rules-based international order" (RBIO)?

The system of international law, norms and institutions (UN Charter, WTO, ICJ, treaties) that governs state behaviour. UK foreign policy explicitly aims to defend and reform it against revisionist challenges.

What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and when was it adopted?

A foundational UN document adopted in 1948 setting out fundamental rights and freedoms for all people. Though not legally binding itself, it underpins later binding treaties (ICCPR and ICESCR, both 1966).

What are "Magnitsky-style" sanctions and which UK regime enables them?

Targeted sanctions (asset freezes and travel bans) against individuals responsible for serious human rights violations or corruption. The UK's Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020 give the FCDO this autonomous power.

What is the UN Human Rights Council and how does its review mechanism work?

A UN body of 47 elected member states that promotes and protects human rights. Its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) examines the human rights record of every UN member state on a roughly 4.5-year cycle.

What is the FCDO's "Media Freedom" agenda and the coalition it co-founded?

A campaign defending journalists and press freedom globally. The UK co-founded the Media Freedom Coalition (2019) with Canada and launched the Global Media Defence Fund, plus a High-Level Panel of Legal Experts chaired by Amal Clooney.

What is meant by "open societies" in UK foreign policy?

Societies characterised by democracy, the rule of law, individual freedoms, free media, and accountable institutions. The IR frames defending open societies against authoritarian models as a core strategic objective.

What is the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI)?

A UK-led initiative launched in 2012 to tackle the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war — strengthening accountability, support for survivors, and international standards of investigation.

What is the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda and its founding UN resolution?

A framework, anchored in UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), recognising women's roles in conflict prevention and peacebuilding and the need to protect women and girls in conflict. The UK delivers it through National Action Plans.

What does the UK's development policy mean by putting "women and girls" at the centre?

Prioritising the "3 Es": Educating girls, Empowering women and championing their health and rights, and Ending gender-based violence — alongside ensuring at least 80% of bilateral aid programmes mainstream gender equality.

What is the distinction between "hard power," "soft power" and "smart power" in UK strategy?

Hard power is coercion via military and economic might; soft power is attraction via culture, values, education and diplomacy (e.g. BBC World Service, British Council); smart power is the integrated, complementary use of both.

What is the BBC World Service's role as an instrument of UK soft power?

It provides trusted, impartial news to global audiences (in dozens of languages), supporting media freedom and the UK's reputation. Historically Foreign Office-funded, it is a key projection of UK values overseas.

What is British International Investment (BII) and its function in UK development?

The UK's development finance institution (formerly CDC Group), which invests in private-sector enterprises in developing countries — particularly in Africa and South Asia — to create jobs, drive growth and offer an alternative to less transparent financing.