Britannia Overwhelmed? Reconsidering British Foreign Policy from European Community Membership to the End of the Cold War, 1973-1990. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Albers, Martin; Andreoni, Edoardo; Haeussler, Mathias
• Is Part Of: Diplomacy and statecraft. Volume 33:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 133
• Page End: 157
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Diplomacy -- Periodicals; World politics -- Periodicals; International relations -- Periodicals; 327
• DOI: 10.1080/09592296.2022.2041814
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-2296

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This analysis revisits Britain's reorientation towards Europe following its European Community [EC] membership during the 1970s and 1980s. Looking at British policy towards China, the United States, and key EC member-states, Britain tried to pursue its national interests from a distinctively European platform, and played an important part in the emergence of a coherent Western European voice on the international stage at the time. Yet the lack of an overarching European strategy, the ignorance of spill-over factors between different foreign policy areas, and the personal temperaments of Britain's political leaders all meant that the European turn in British foreign policy was rarely visible to contemporaries and ultimately remained incomplete at best.