My Foreign Policy Too

Guy Aitchison (London, OK): Who should decide when it comes to war, peace and diplomacy? An ongoing project aims to make British foreign policy more democratic, ensuring that Brown delivers on his promise to "make government more open and accountable to Parliament in decisions about peace and war". It is called, rather optimistically, MyForeignPolicyToo. (It is being run by the Federal Trust, One World Trust and Democratic Audit.) The site contains detailed analysis of democratic processes in areas such as Aid, Conflict, Trade, Europe and the ‘Special Relationship’, and makes  proposals for each. They suggest giving MPs a role in shaping policies rather than simply scrutinizing them after the event, making Parliament "more representative of the people and less reactive to the executive’s demands". The project also weighs up the pros and cons of related constitutional reform proposals by Gordon Brown and looks positively at the Tory Democracy Taskforce. The alliance behind My Foreign Policy Too believes that a more democratic foreign policy will mean a more ethical one. Fingers crossed.