“Global Britain” as an Outcome of Historical Disputes over UK Identity

Abstract

The article explores the interconnection between the discourse over national identity and attempts by the UK authorities to design new foreign policy priorities in a post-Brexit environment. Proceeding from the book of the British historian D. Reynolds ―Island Stories: Britain and Its History in the Age of Brexit‖, the author highlights debates about the UK‘s position on the international stage using different methodological approaches to international relations such as the role theory. Moreover, the article contributes to the constructivist discourse that interstate relations are defined by a set of norms, values and identity. The author analyses international narratives of the ―Anglosphere‖, ―free trade‖ and ―European question‖. It is concluded that there is a certain historic continuity which manifests itself in all the discussions over the UK objectives on the global stage. The re-design of the UK international strategy and its search for new priorities as a result of Brexit and global shifts in the international system are driven by attempts to identify a new global role through the alliance-based approach in the Euro-Atlantic and Asia-Pacific regions. The article concludes that the search in the UK of a new international identity deeply rooted in British history now comes to the fore, as the idea of Global Britain is being fit into real life.