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Ch a pter 1 The Representation of British Foreign Policy The English are divided in two categories, clearly identified by those who study zoology: the first one is represented by that famous Englishman who was marvelled not to find negroes in Calais, for, according to him, the Channel was the border of the civilised world. The second category is the one of types like Hervey, who [. . .] being in the Venetian Lagoon, tasted the water and concluded ‘ it is salty, hence it is ours!’ 1 What in the world is this famous English friendship? We want to see the proof! 2
Africa was a key focus of Britain's foreign policy under Tony Blair. Military intervention in Sierra Leone, increases in aid and debt relief, and grand initiatives such as the Commission for Africa established the continent as a place in which Britain could ‘do good’. This book critically explores Britain's fascination with Africa. It argues that, under New Labour, Africa represented an area of policy which appeared to transcend politics. Gradually, it came to embody an ideal state activity around which politicians, officials and the wider public could coalesce, leaving behind more contentious domestic and international issues. Building on the story of Britain and Africa under Blair, the book draws wider conclusions about the role of ‘good’ and idealism in foreign policy. In particular, it discusses how international relations provide opportunities to create and pursue ideals, and why they are essential for the wellbeing of political communities. The book argues that state actors project the idea of ‘good’ onto idealised, distant objects, in order to restore a sense of the ‘good state’.
This book addresses the special relationship from the perspective of post-Second World War British governments. It argues that Britain's foreign policy challenges the dominant idea that its power has been waning and that it sees itself as the junior partner to the hegemonic US. The book also shows how at moments of international crisis successive British governments have attempted to re-play the same foreign policy role within the special relationship. It discusses the power of a profoundly antagonistic relationship between Mark Twain and Walter Scott. The book demonstrates Stowe's mis-reading and mis-representation of the Highland Clearances. It explains how Our Nig, the work of a Northern free black, also provides a working-class portrait of New England farm life, removed from the frontier that dominates accounts of American agrarian life. Telegraphy - which transformed transatlantic relations in the middle of the century- was used by spiritualists as a metaphor for the ways in which communications from the other world could be understood. The story of the Bolton Whitman Fellowship is discussed. Beside Sarah Orne Jewett's desk was a small copy of the well-known Raeburn portrait of Sir Walter Scott. Henry James and George Eliot shared a transatlantic literary network which embodied an easy flow of mutual interest and appreciation between their two milieux. In her autobiography, Gertrude Stein assigns to her lifelong companion the repeated comment that she has met three geniuses in her life: Stein, Picasso, and Alfred North Whitehead.
cumbersome. The scope and ambition of Iraq policy was characteristic of a consistently proactive, interventionist foreign policy strategy. Finally, the belief that he could be simultaneously influential with the Americans, persuasive to the international community, and convincing to the British public was a hallmark of Blair’s confidence in his own efficacy. Indeed, the central argument of this book is that British foreign policy has been decisively shaped by this worldview and leadership style of Tony Blair during his time in office. Simply put, I argue that a convincing
provide an alternative foreign policy. This dearth of material occurs despite the fact that foreign policy has always been an area of contention for Labour, providing the arena for some of the most intense tribal warfare within the party; and it has contributed to the myth that Labour has been insular in its outlook, not much interested in international affairs, and has made little in the way of contribution to British foreign policy. This study, therefore, seeks to rectify this gap in the literature on both the political ideology and the history of the Labour Party
exclusive. Because of this, Labour has tried to rethink the nature of British foreign policy. This study has argued that Labour has sought to offer an alternative to the traditional, power politics or realist approach of British foreign policy, which had stressed national self-interest. This alternative was a version of British foreign policy based on internationalism, which stressed cooperation and interdependence, and a concern with the international as well as the national interest. While this concept of internationalism is very vague, at its heart is the idea that
2 Old and new British foreign policy after 1945 evolved within a strategic context of progressive imperial and economic decline, Continental moves towards the integration of Europe, and the ‘special relationship’ with the US. One of its central aspects, as the post-war period unfolded, was a desire on the part of British governments to establish closer ties with the US as a means of compensating for Britain’s decline as an independent Great Power. Yet relations with both Europe and the US remained variable during this time, and the problems of decolonisation and
members, plus vacuous statements on wider global issues. The spheres of foreign policy In his perceptive book Between Europe and America , Andrew Gamble (2003, pp. 30–4) recalls Churchill’s 1946 invocation of Britain being at the touching point of three spheres: the British Empire; Anglo-America and Europe. Gamble suggests that ‘Britain’ should now be seen as a ‘union’ of its devolved constituent parts. There were at least three areas in which postwar British foreign policy could invest its emphasis, often represented by three spheres: Europe, America and the
either of Cobdenite radical criticism or of the contribution made by Peelites such as Aberdeen or William Gladstone.7 There is, therefore, a significant gap in the historiography of British foreign policy and domestic politics in the mid-Victorian period. As far as foreign policy is concerned, the Conservatives’ assumptions, experiences, prejudices and policies constitute, for the most part, terra incognita. Historiographical context There are a number of historiographical problems facing any historian of this period and topic. The Conservative politicians of the
organizations in South Asia will not be a criterion in determining government policy towards JI supporters in Britain. Some have argued that youths connected to the East London Mosque (and by extension the JI) have been instrumental in reducing the influence of the now proscribed radical organization Al-Muhajiroun led by Omar Bakri and Anjem Choudary.69 British foreign policy: perceptions and more The growing identification with a Muslim identity and the rise of Islamists within the British-Bangladeshi community is not a post-9/11 or a post-7/7 phenomenon. As our discussion