In defence of the empire, she said that although “egregious things have happened in Britain” there was not “a country in the world you can point to that’s had a perfect history of modern liberalism”.
She added: “So let’s stop fighting about the past, let’s start fighting for the future, because that’s what our adversaries are thinking about.
“They’re not thinking about what happened in the past in their countries, they’re busy out there with malign information on the internet, or threatening aggression, or using economic coercion to affect their goals.”
In her speech on Wednesday, Ms Truss set out the country’s foreign policy aims as she suggested Britain’s adversaries were gaining advantages as they were not focused on their past.
She warned that hostile forces were using disinformation to “undermine truth” and that extremists were “perpetuating malign ideologies through social media”.
‘Now is the time for the free world to fight back’
“Autocratic regimes are using this maelstrom of militancy, mistrust and misinformation to gain the upper hand,” she said.
“Now is the time for the free world to fight back, and to use the power of economics and technology to promote freedom not fear.”
Ms Truss also called on the UK to “avoid strategic dependency” on Russia and china as she warns it would be a “mistake for Russia to launch an attack on Ukraine”.
She warned against the dependency on Russian gas as well as a avoid strategic dependency on China.
“The EU relies on Russia for over 40 per cent of its gas – and Russia has had a complete monopoly of supply with some countries,” she said.
“If Russia gets its way, Europe will be increasingly hooked. We have to end this strategic dependency whether it’s on energy, investment or technology. We have to provide an alternative.”
Ms Truss, who became Foreign Secretary in September and was speaking ahead of a summit of G7 counterparts in Liverpool, said the UK would use economics and technology as “tools of liberation”.
She added: “We have to move away from the intervention of introspection.”
