The papers in D 709 2/7 are arranged as follows:

• D 709 2/7/1 Private correspondence
• D 709 2/7/2 Speeches and interviews
• D 709 2/7/3 Personal papers on Southern Africa
• D 709 2/7/4 Personal papers on Europe
• D 709 2/7/5 Personal papers on Iran
• D 709 2/7/6 Personal papers and news cuttings: general
• D 709 2/7/7 Desk diaries
• D 709 2/7/8 Programmes and briefs: official visits
• D 709 2/7/9 Congratulatory messages [deposited Jun 1999]

In September 1976 David Owen replaced Roy Hattersley as deputy to the Foreign Secretary, Tony Crosland, with a responsibility for European Community affairs, involving preparations for the UK's six-month presidency of the European Community. However, following the sudden death of Crosland after suffering a stroke on 19th February 1977, David Owen was appointed to take his place as Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 21st February, becoming the youngest Foreign Secretary since Anthony Eden in 1935. He served in this position until the defeat of the Labour Party in the General Election of May 1979 .

One of the immediate, and most serious, issues facing David Owen as Foreign Secretary was the struggle for government in the former British colony of Rhodesia, governed in rebellion to the Crown by Ian Smith's minority white regime, which was established under the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) of 1965. At the time of Owen's appointment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office successive negotiations for a settlement between Ian Smith, leader of the rebel government, and the opposing African nationalist leaders, notably Joshua Nkomo, the Reverend Ndabiningi Sithole, Robert Mugabe and Bishop Abel Muzorewa had all been unsuccessful. Owen's policy was based on the resolve `to bring UDI to an end and ensure majority rule for Zimbabwe' (Owen, Time to Declare, p.291). During his time as Foreign Secretary he was involved in attempting to establish a system of interim government to cover the transitional period leading to a government by majority rule based on one person, one vote; and to draft the basis of a constitution for the independent state. He encouraged the involvement of America as a crucial element in the achievement of this end, and worked closely with American Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, and US Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, to attempt to reach agreement. However despite continued talks with African leaders a universal agreement could not be reached and the violence and guerrilla warfare within Rhodesia continued.

The British presidency of the European Community ended in Jun 1977 with the European Council in London, following which David Owen became involved in the formulation and promotion of official government policy on Europe; preparing at James Callaghan's request papers for a special Cabinet meeting in July, the outcome of which was `an official Government policy which was firmly pro-European, anti-federalist and committed to enlargement of the Community' (Owen, Time to Declare p.329). Owen also worked to mitigate the hostility of Left-wing members of the Labour Party to the Community, flying to Madrid in September to illustrate Labour's commitment to promote early entry of Spain, a symbol of international socialism, to Community membership.

Further troubled areas in which David Owen became involved during his time as Foreign Secretary included the Falkland Islands and the Middle East. He contributed to the decision-making process on possible military deployments to counter the growing Argentinian threat in the Falkland Islands. In the Middle East he became engaged in diplomacy with heads of conflicting Arab and Israeli countries - which included visits to Cairo, Syria, Jordan and Israel (becoming the first British Foreign Secretary to visit both Damascus since Syria's independence, and the State of Israel) and talks with President Sadat of Egypt, President Assad, of Syria and Prime Minister Begin of Israel. He was also involved in formulating British governmental policy of support for the Shah of Iran during the Iranian revolution, which culminated in the toppling of the Shah by Ayotollah Khomeini in early 1979.