Foreign Affairs

Newly-released Foreign Office papers show that the-then South African prime minister P.W.Botha went through former British intelligence officer to "convey a message about his disquiet at the UK attitude" apartheid

Newly-released Foreign Office papers show the US ambassador "did not get a very good read-out" from his own side after a meeting between the American president and the UK prime minister

Newly-released Foreign Office papers show "laid back" US President was seen as "not on an intellectual par" with the UK prime minister

Newly-released historical papers from the Foreign Office show Britain’s decidedly undiplomatic take on the state of Ireland

Foreign Office files show how the department's permanent secretary ordered the formation of an elite “security coordination unit", able to call on officials from right across the civil service

Full details on the new leadership team at the DIT – as former UK Trade and Investments chief exec Andrew Cahn tells CSW that setting up a new department could have a "really serious frictional cost"

Then-foreign secretary and his wife asked officials to gather "as many details as possible" about the wives and family lives of foreign ministers, new papers show

Newly-released papers show how Number 10 kept the Foreign Office out of the loop over a US briefing on the controversial Strategic Defence Initiative

Newly-released papers show how officials set out to frustrate planned visit by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation leader

Permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the European Union says the new organisation is "growing fast"

Catch up with all the latest appointments at the Department for Exiting the European Union as it begins to flesh out its senior management team – plus all the usual Whitehall moves

Latest Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development finds concern over employment law and migration policy

Downing Street sources cool on Boris Johnson and Liam Fox's tussle over departmental responsibility

New report from the Independent Commission for Aid Impact says DfID staff working in fragile and conflict-afflicted states are sometimes confused about how to manage risk

There’s more to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office than diplomacy and policy, with the government department harbouring one of the most overtly commercial operations in the civil service. Danny Payne, chief executive of FCO Services, tells CSW’s Jonathan Owen how the trading fund set up less than a decade ago has come of age

Institute for Government says Department for International Trade's remit is at odds with comments from new prime minister Theresa May

Vicky Pryce, former joint head of the Government Economic Service, tells Sam Macrory why, despite the tumultuous times ahead, she would welcome a return to Whitehall…and not only to increase the number of senior women by one

A lack of planning, a breakdown of cabinet government, the sidelining of civil service advice – the parallels between the Iraq debacle and the aftermath of the Brexit vote are striking, argues Sue Cameron

Britain's new prime minister Theresa May has vowed to "make a success" of Britain's historic decision to quit the European Union. But as Sir Nigel Sheinwald – the UK's former permanent representative to the European Union – tells Sam Macrory, that will no easy task

Theresa May arrives at Number 10 with years of experience on the government's key decision-making body on security. Dr Joe Devanny of the International Centre for Security Analysis takes a look at what the new government will mean for the way departments support prime ministers on national security issues

In the first of his occasional opinion pieces on issues that matter to officials, former permanent secretary Sir Leigh Lewis takes aim at the  civil service grading system 

Brexit secretary David Davis says "the most brilliant people in Whitehall" are looking to work for his new department

Negotiating fresh trade deals in the wake of Britain's departure from the European Union will be a mammoth task – and the civil service must step up its efforts to assemble the right team of experts for the job, says headhunter David Archer

Ex-Cabinet Office minister defends lack of contingency planning – but acknowledges dearth of trade deal expertise