A ‘distinct UK offer’: The geographies of the FCDO's International Development Strategy 2022

On 16 May 2022, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) produced its first International Development Strategy. This commentary explores the geographies of the strategy in more depth, highlighting three key areas: firstly, the dominance of a ‘UK approach’; secondly, its focus on country and bilateral programmes; and, finally, the rise of diplomatic, commercial and technological spaces for development. The commentary concludes that this development strategy produces an imaginary of a more isolationist, independent, sovereign Britain, with development used as a vehicle for a geographical nationalistic re-branding. These geographical imaginaries are used to legitimise aid to a domestic audience and to enhance Britain's position in the development sector. This emphasis in turn asks further questions about governmental thinking on development – importantly, what is lost, neglected and dismissed through this focus on a ‘distinct UK approach’?