British Foreign Policy

Paper Summary:

This paper examines at length the history of Great Britain's international foreign policy, and its current state of affairs. It discusses England's global interest as the great prior colonial ruler, as opposed to being more Euro-centered. The paper describes that England's foreign policy strategy goal is to prevent a single global power from world dominance. The paper also discusses the emotive and bad-tempered way Britain debates its policy.

Table of Contents:
Overview
Post World War II
The End of the Cold War Era
Tony Blair and Current British Foreign Policy
The European Community
Conclusion
Endnotes

From the Paper:

"Throughout modern history, Great Britain has never defined its' primary geopolitical role as a European power, preferring instead, to focus on its' global interests. In advancing this worldview, British foreign policy strategy has traditionally sought to prevent a single power - or group of powers - from dominating the continent by maintaining equilibrium of forces on the continent.

This emphasis upon maintaining a "balance of power" in Europe has led Great Britain to frequently shift allegiances in favor of the weaker power bloc and to a policy where British interests were consistently pursued from the sideline of Europe. This policy continued during the Cold War as concern focused on the threat posed by the Soviet Union. The one significant difference from the British perspective was the use of an external power - United States - to guarantee the power."

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