U.K. looks into lessons from Arab Spring

LONDON, July 19 (UPI) -- The British government needs to take a lessons-learned approach to diplomacy when tackling post-Arab Spring challenges, a parliamentary committee said.

A British Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Richard Ottaway testified before lawmakers that there was "extraordinary" political progress in countries like Libya, Egypt and Tunisia since political upheavals began in December 2010.

A protest suicide in Tunisia in December 2010 sparked a series of events that launched political upheavals across the Middle East. Those events saw a new Islamist-led government take power in Tunisia, the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsi, gain the presidency in Egypt.

Ottaway said billions of dollars have been designated to support political reforms, though the British government needs to use its political capital to ensure that support endures in the region.

While praising the role of diplomats in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, he said the agency was understaffed and lacked basic linguistic skills.

"The FCO must consider what lessons can be learned from its experience with the Arab Spring and what steps it can take to improve its ability to anticipate such events in the future," he said in a statement.