One World Trust - Parliamentary Oversight of Foreign Policy

Parliamentary Oversight of Foreign Policy

The Trust’s Parliamentary Oversight Project, running since 2003, examines how the British Parliament holds the British government to account for foreign policy development and decisions. The project specifically focuses on the systems and practices in place for UK approaches to international organisations like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the European Union or key countries such as the USA. This includes the way Britain responds armed conflict. The project conducts research on loopholes in Parliamentary controls and undertakes advocacy to implement reforms.

In collaboration with Democratic Audit and the Federal Trust for Education and Research, the One World Trust published in 2006 the book Not in Our Name: Democracy and Foreign Policy in the UK, which looked at the checks and balances between Parliament and the UK government in the formulation and oversight of foreign policy. In December 2007 the One World Trust published the most recent of the three organisations' joint report A World of Difference: Parliamentary Oversight of British Foreign Policy, which focuses on the practical experiences and problems with parliamentary oversight of global security, responses to conflict and scrutiny of UK policy towards the European Union. On the website myforeignpolicytoo.org the three organisations encourage debate and reforms for a more democratic foreign policy process.