ABSTRACT
The coordination function is a key activity for modern foreign ministries but challenges to British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) authority exist at the center of government. Interdependence in postwar international relations has not only increased the scale and complexity of external relations but also weakened the 'boundary' between issues of foreign policy and domestic policy. In May 1946, Prime Minister Attlee directed that a steering committee on international organizations should be established to bring together officials from ministries with responsibility for representing the United Kingdom. Committee membership reflects the blurring of domestic and foreign policy characteristic of international interdependence. The FCO has the ability to influence proceedings through its responsibility for ministerial committees and their official bureaucratic counterparts. The Cabinet Office, which serves the Cabinet as a whole rather than a single minister, is the logical choice for the coordination of policy making.
