British foreign policy after the Cold War

Abstract

William Wallace argues that the transformation of the European international order since 1989 hasfundamentally altered the context within which Britishforeign policy must be conducted. Behind these rapid changes in Britain's political and security environment, more gradual technological and economic changes have further undermined the assumptions on which British foreign policy has rested. Social and economic change has also been altering the character and cohesion of the British state which foreign policy is intended to serve. The British Government, continuing to put substantial ministerial time and public expenditure into national foreign and defence policies, now has to persuade its audiences both within Britain and outside that it still has a distinctive perspective towards shared security and economic problems.