Britain's Position Research Articles

Why Sinoscepticism will Remake British Politics

AbstractSinoscepticism is on the rise in British politics. Why is this? And what are the implications? This article shows that Sinoscepticism is not solely a result of the whims of MPs, but also stems from deep‐rooted tensions surrounding Britain's position in global order. Specifically, the British state finds itself on the horns of a dilemma: accept the status quo of staying economically open to China, but face staunch criticism and reprisals both internationally and domestically; or become more hawkish in relations, but risk worsening Britain's imbalanced and underperforming economy. Considering the Conservative Party's longstanding commitment to both the ‘special relationship’ with the US and to business and finance, this predicament is likely to provoke the party. The dilemma is seemingly about relations with one country, but, like Euroscepticism, it has the potential to become a stand‐in for debates over what sort of country the UK should be.

At the Edge of the World. Geographical Location, Englishness and Monstrosity

Monstrosity is a constant presence in Old English literature. In particular, Wonders of the East depicts everything that was perceived as strange, significantly located in the East, displaying a Mediterranean-centric perspective where Europe works as the ideal centre of the cosmos. Early English Medieval people adopted this notion, which, however, seems to consign the island to the margins of civilization. This paper investigates how the position of Britain at the border of the map impacted the perceived degree of civilization of the Early Medieval English people and how their geographical location might have imbued the idea of Englishness with monstrosity.

THE COUP D’ETAT IN FRANCE AND PETAIN’S RISE TO POWER

The defeat of France in 1940 led to the fall of the Third Republic and the creation of the Petain (or Vichy) regime. It is generally believed that the coup took place on July 10, but in fact it happened on June 16, when Petain replaced Reynaud as head of the French government. Moreover, the first steps towards the coup were taken a month earlier, in the second half of May, after the appointment of Petain as deputy head of government, and several of his supporters to other key posts. This article is written in order to prove this on the basis of factual material. The content of the article also shows that, in addition to the generally recognized reasons (the country's unreadiness for a «new type of war», the strong positions of defeatists of different political orientations, etc.), the position of Britain and the United States towards France also played a role in the coup: the former, after Dunkirk, actually left France to its fate, the public opinion of the latter has not yet matured before joining the war. At the same time, the results of the work allow us to reconsider some of the existing points of view on the Vichy government: despite a number of analogies with the Nazi coup of 1933. In Germany, the Petain regime was not completely totalitarian, although it was a kind of «conservative revolution».

A ‘distinct UK offer’: The geographies of the FCDO's International Development Strategy 2022

AbstractOn 16 May 2022, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) produced its first International Development Strategy. This commentary explores the geographies of the strategy in more depth, highlighting three key areas: firstly, the dominance of a ‘UK approach’; secondly, its focus on country and bilateral programmes; and, finally, the rise of diplomatic, commercial and technological spaces for development. The commentary concludes that this development strategy produces an imaginary of a more isolationist, independent, sovereign Britain, with development used as a vehicle for a geographical nationalistic re‐branding. These geographical imaginaries are used to legitimise aid to a domestic audience and to enhance Britain's position in the development sector. This emphasis in turn asks further questions about governmental thinking on development – importantly, what is lost, neglected and dismissed through this focus on a ‘distinct UK approach’?

Informal Empire: The Origin and Significance of a Key Term

Ever since the publication of “The Imperialism of Free Trade” by John Gallagher and Ronald Robinson in 1953, “informal empire” has been a key term for historians. It has, however, always been contentious. The central issue was whether imperial historians were prepared to accept a new concept of empire. This article explains the paradox of informal empire by creating a stronger provenance for the term. Since the early nineteenth century, imperial metaphors have been used to characterize Britain's position in the world economy. Gallagher and Robinson—like their immediate predecessors, Charles Fay and Keith Hancock—wanted to understand British imperialism in the broader context of European expansion while also formulating an alternative to the radical liberal and neo-Marxist interpretations widely current after World War I. Ultimately, the difficulty of using “empire” as a single category led Gallagher and one of his most influential successors to choose an alternative term.

Britain's Position on Military and Logistical Arms Sales to Iraq during the First Year of the Iran-Iraq War 1980-1981

The position of the British government on the Iraqi-Iranian war 1980-1988, especially at its beginning, was of particular importance in drawing the lines of its various relations with the Iraqi government, which at the beginning of the war was in a race against time to provide weapons, ammunition and military equipment from the major industrial countries and their companies in this area. In view of Britain adopting a neutral stance towards the war, this is difficult from the position of the two sides. The British military industrial establishment and its companies were not able to obtain the possible economic benefit from Iraqi offers nor obtain huge deals to buy British weapons. This made Iraqi Ministry of Defense officials press in the negotiations for the signing of many deals with the British military industrial establishment, whether with the British Ministry of Defense or with British non-governmental companies. Despite that, there were many deals that took place between the Iraqi Ministry of Defense and the British government and British companies, as the economic and political factors and pressure groups from within Britain had a major role in concluding many of the deals. Here it appears clearly how serious the British government is in adopting a policy of neutrality towards the war, especially as the economic factors controlled its decision. In addition, the Iraqi Ministry of Defense is largely credited with breaking many obstacles in order to benefit from high-quality British military products compared to their French and European counterparts in general.

The ending of an order

This article considers contemporary global and geopolitical issues, including the current structure of world politics in a context of US decline. The nature of imperialism is addressed. China-US rivalry is placed at the centre of the analysis, which also looks at crises around Ukraine and Iran. The position of Britain in the new world politics is examined, along with the inadequacies of the Labour Party’s response.

British Converts to Islam, Habitus and Social Positioning

The number of people converting to Islam in Europe has been growing in recent years and interest in this phenomenon has gained increasing attention. Scholarly attention has sought in particular to “locate” converts in relation to majority and minorities in society. One way of conceiving and theorising in this vein has been to focus on the notion of habitus, with alternative emphases of change or continuity. This article engages with conversion seen through the lens of habitus through a focus on converts to Islam in Britain. The article argues that these focuses on habitus over-emphasise practice against faith or belief and emphasise change against continuity or vice-versa. The article argues that what we need to focus on is the dynamic process between change and continuity found in the negotiations converts make as they seek to navigate their sense of self and social relations. Moreover, the article suggests that an emphasis on practice against faith or belief distorts how we understand these negotiations and the subsequent ways in which converts to Islam in Britain position themselves in relation to “majority society” and Muslim communities.

Global Britain's strategic problem East of Suez

AbstractWhy did Britain withdraw from its military bases in the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia midway through the Cold War? Existing accounts tend to focus on Britain's weak economic position, as well as the domestic political incentives of retrenchment for the ruling Labour Party. This article offers an alternative explanation: the strategic rationale for retaining a permanent presence East of Suez dissolved during the 1960s, as policymakers realised that these military bases were consuming more security than they could generate. These findings have resonance for British officials charting a return East of Suez today under the banner of ‘Global Britain’.

'Did Margaret Thatcher Destroy British Manufacturing?': A Note

A significant point of controversy where the legacy of Margaret Thatcher and neoliberalism more broadly are concerned is the fate of Britain's manufacturing base, with critics alleging her policy's destructiveness, and supporters denying the diminution of Britain's position. Examining that base's performance relative to other countries over the 1979-2019 time frame (in particular aggregate and per capita output, the share of manufacturing in British GDP and the British trade balance in manufacturing), and other quantitative and nonquantitative data (like British consumption and production of machine tools, and the character of foreign investment in Britain), it concludes that Britain's manufacturing base has indeed suffered in significant ways next to its past position, and the positions of other advanced industrial countries, without real parallel among them. It also argues that not only has this protracted and severe decline occurred in a context of neoliberal policy, but that specific aspects of this policy (the monetary reforms of the early '80s, and government passivity toward the industrial sector's erosion since) can plausibly be connected with the problems of the country's manufacturing sector as discussed here.

Was the German Battlefleet Programme the Main Reason for the End of Britain’s “Splendid Isolation”?

This historiographical essay challenges the common historical narrative that Britain left 'splendid isolation' as a result of perceived German aggression - particularly considering Germany's battlefleet programme. Investigating closer Anglo-American ties, the Anglo-Japanese agreement and the Entente Cordiale show that Britain started to abandon an isolationist policy due to its vast, global and often burdensome empire before the German battlefleet started to present itself as a problem. Rather than pinning Britain's alliances at the turn of the twentieth-century on one factor in Europe, this essay investigates the impact the Americas, Africa, Central Asia and the Far East had on Britain's changing international position.

1895-1898: Inglaterra y la busqueda de un compromiso internacional para frenar la intervencion norteamericana en Cuba

Tomando como referencias la bibliografía especializada y un amplio conjunto de fuentes archivísticas, fundamentalmente británicas, este artículo comienza analizando la nueva situación internacional que caracteriza la última década del siglo XIX, las líneas generales de la política exterior española y la posición internacional de Inglaterra como consecuencia de su necesidad de hacer compatible la defensa de su posición en el Pacífico con el reforzamiento de la seguridad de Gibraltar cuando se formaliza la alianza franco-rusa. Sobre esta base, la decisión española de no renovar los Acuerdos Mediterráneos, el estallido de la insurrección cubana, los primeros pasos de la intervención norteamericana y los continuados esfuerzos españoles para lograr la intervención de las grandes potencias en general, y de Inglaterra en particular, para frenar al gobierno de Washington, fueron la ocasión de la intervención de sir Henry Drammond Wolff, embajador británico en Madrid, que intentó empujar al gobierno del marqués de Salisbury en favor de los objetivos de los sucesivos gobiernos españoles. Aunque no tenga éxito, la intensa actividad de Wolff y su abundante correspondencia con el Foreign Office permite conocer no sólo las líneas generales de la diplomacia que las grandes potencias en general —y Inglaterra en particular— desarrollaron en Madrid, sino también las perspectivas, los objetivos y las iniciativas de la política exterior española en los años que precedieron al «Desastre».

British foreign policy towards the Palestinian cause since 2003

The topic area of that’s paper dealing with role of Britain in established of Israel, so the paper argued the historical developments of Palestinian question and Role of Britain Government toward peace process since 1992, and then its insight toward plan of Palestinian State.
 That’s paper also argued the British Policy toward Israeli violations toward Palestinians people, and increased with settlement policy by many procedures like demolition of houses, or lands confiscation, the researcher argued the Britain position toward that’s violations beside the political developments which happens in Britain after Theresa May took over the power in Ten Downing Street

Foundations of Semi-Superpower Status: Financing Britain's Defense Posture, 1945-1971

This paper, based on the author's prior work, endeavors to condense into a brief, succinct discussion of the resourcing of Britain's military position, discussed here as semi-superpower status, in the 1945-1971 period.

Paying Our Way in the World? Visible and Invisible Dangers of Brexit

ABSTRACTThe UK economy has long been associated with a weak balance of payments, reflecting an underlying growth model reliant on private household consumption. A deficit in goods trade, chiefly with the EU, has been offset by surpluses in services trade and foreign investment earnings. The Single Market provided wider markets for the UK, but did not fundamentally alter Britain's structural weaknesses. The Brexit vote took place against the background of Britain running its largest peacetime current account deficit. Financing Britain's external position represents a key challenge post-Brexit. Post-Brexit models for Britain partially address this. Any emergent model will critically depend on the nature of the Brexit deal with the EU, not least in terms of the impact on financial services and on supply chains. This paper sets out the recent evolution of the UK's current account position, particularly in relation to the EU. It then highlights particular areas of potential disruption from Brexit and sketches out scenarios of possible evolution of the Britain's external position in response to this.

‘There is Music in It, But It is Not Music’: A Reception History ofMusique Concrètein Britain

AbstractThe traditional narrative of the development ofmusique concrèteandelektronische Musiktells a story of esoteric, academic branches of musical modernism emerging out of Paris and Cologne in the 1950s. But this narrative clouds our understanding of the unique ways this music developed in Britain, largely filtered through the BBC, as a relatively populist, accessible iteration of Continental techniques. This article explores how British reactions to contemporary music and, in particular,musique concrèteandelektronische Musik, reflected on the one hand continued suspicion towards Continental music and on the other a deep insecurity about Britain's musical position in the world. The predominantly hostile attitude towards electronic music from within establishment musical cultures betray profound concerns about trends that were seen to exert a harmful influence on British musical society.

“HOW GRAND IS OUR DESIGN FOR EUROPE?”: INTEGRATION PLANS OF THE GREAT BRITAIN IN THE LATE OF 1950S

The UK European Union membership referendum 2016 and its results actualized the study of the British initiatives in the sphere of integration before the entry into the European Economic Community in 1973. The article is devoted to the little-known in Russian historiography "Grand Design"of H. Macmillan, nominated in the wake of the failure of the Suez operation against Egypt in 1956. Plan with such bright and eye-catching name suggested the creation of a broad integration group in Europe as alternative with Britain as a leader to the preparing for the establishment of projects of the European Economic Community and the European Atomic energy community. The project was designed to restore the prestige of the Conservative Party and to strengthen the shaky position of Britain in NATO and European affairs after Suez Crisis. At the same time the emergence of the plan reflected the desire of the Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan to weaken the struggle inside political establishment between supporters and opponents of the country's full-fledged participation in the European integration and take the lead in the integration movement from France. Analysis of the content of the project and attempts to implement it within the framework of a Free Trade Area (FTA) reveals the essence of the "special position" of the UK towards supranational integration and the British vision of the future of European integration. Modern United Kingdom appeared in the new European realities after the Referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union and returns to the starting point on the path of supranational integration and to the search for its place in Europe. In these circumstances, the ideas expressed by British politicians more than half a century ago, may again prove to be demanded and relevant.

CONSERVATIVE PARTY AND THE PROBLEMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN THE EARLY YEARS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR (on the pages of “Diary of a diplomat” by I. M. Maisky)

The “Diary” of the Soviet diplomat I. M. Maisky, who worked in London for more than ten years first as a messenger, then as the Soviet ambassador to the UK, is one of the valuable sources for the interwar period and the Second World War. The “Diary” contains records of Maisky’s conversations with the leading British politicians and public figures and his own thoughts on a wide range of issues, including the problems of the British Empire. The author of the paper analyzes the views of the Tories on the prospects for the British Empire and the Commonwealth of the postwar period and reveals the plans for the reconstruction of the Empire and its transformation while maintaining the dominant position of Britain in the format of a new relationship with the dominions and colonies. The paper shows that within the British political establishment there was no consensus on the future of the empire and, as the materials of the “Diary of diplomat” evidence, the problem of the evolution of the Empire had a close relationship with other areas of foreign and domestic policy.

‘A Hazardous Task’: Britain and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

ABSTRACTIn 2014, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations celebrated its fiftieth anniversary since its coming into force in 1964. Setting out the privileges and immunities accorded to diplomats and diplomatic missions, the negotiations of this convention were part of the United Nations' plan to strengthen the international rule of law. This article analyses the role of Britain, one of the major actors in the negotiation process. It explores how Britain's negotiation position was shaped by diplomatic realities of the 1950s, and the strategies used to ensure Britain's interests being reflected in the final convention. The focus will be on the overall political pressure that underlined Britain's negotiation position, in order to reveal the general UK position on the codification of diplomatic privileges and immunities. Despite the remarkably friendly atmosphere at the 1961 Vienna conference, Britain could not press through all its amendments which, through the concluding legislation process, protracted Britain's ratification process. The article shows while London was supporting the codification of international law, codification by convention was not its ultimate choice. Therefore, the subsequent legislation process was marked by an inter-departmental dispute between the Foreign Office and Treasury, inter alia, on the exemption of Scotch whisky from excise duties.

Preserving the Status Quo: Britain, the United States, and Bolivian Tin, 1946–56

ABSTRACTThis article analyses the relationship between Britain, the United States, and Bolivia in the context of the tin nexus after the Second World War. While the connection between Britain and Bolivia was long-standing - Bolivian tin had been shipped to Britain since the nineteenth century - it extended far beyond simple bilateralism. Such was the intricate web of connections in the global tin industry that any rupture in the Anglo-Bolivian relationship would have fundamental ramifications on the equilibrium of the industry, and, in turn, Britain's predominant position within it. The United States had overtly challenged Britain's dominance during the Second World War by constructing a smelter to be supplied by Bolivian ores. Despite the financial exigencies of the post-war period, the profound upheavals in the domestic Bolivian tin industry, and the contentious, destabilising tin-procurement policy pursued by the United States, Britain was determined to confront this threat. By actively seeking to preserve its long-term contract for Bolivian tin, Britain was able to maintain its predominance in the post-war global tin industry. At the same time, Bolivia deftly utilised Anglo-American rivalry to ensure more than one outlet for its most critical export commodity.