'Two roads diverged....': British Foreign Policy under New Labour

From the outset of his premiership, Tony Blair has been remarkably active in foreign policy, effectively piloting it himself and displaying a penchant for interventionism and imagined global reach in concert with American strategy. However, his liberal internationalist, moralising rhetoric contrasts with the liberal imperialist stamp of British action. Blair's devout adherence to American policies in its 'war on terror' reflects his own estimation of the severity of the threat posed by international terrorism, but the cost of following wherever American unilateralism leads is questionable, especially in light of the Iraq imbroglio. This dissertation examines British foreign policy under the Labour Government since 1997 and contends that its core strategy of maintaining a twin-track relationship towards the US and Europe, with Britain as the 'bridge' between these two orbits, needs to be re-orientated. The idea of interdependence in an Anglo-American 'special relationship', traditionally prized by London, has always been a fiction, and the Iraq imbroglio has again exposed its limitations. Rather than being its strategic junior partner, Britain is a satellite to the hegemon. Britain's interests would be better served occupying a firmer place in the EU which, in turn, would provide a better platform to exercise diplomatic leverage in transatlantic, and wider, affairs. Compromises will be necessary to achieve this readjustment, but it is propitious to implement it given that, firstly, the EU enlargement process demands an organisational structure consistent with long-standing British preferences and, secondly, the contemporary prominence of security issues in which the value of the British contribution is acknowledged, especially by France and Germany. This paper focuses on the security aspects of British foreign policy, exploring the issues with reference to actor motives and historical context, and acknowledging the crucial importance of domestic factors