foreign policy Flashcards
(23 cards)
what were Blair’s foreign policy aims in 1997?
-make the UK a leading player in europe
-foster a people’s diplomacy
-supply an ethical content to foreign policy
-make GB a leading partner in a world community of nations
what was Blair’s view on Europe?
called for a more positive relationship with Europe
Blair’s relationship with Europe:
-good relationships with many European leaders
-Britain became central to many EU negotiations e.g. 2001 treaty of Nice which extended institutions of EU
describe conflict within the party about the euro:
-blair wanted to join it but Brown (chancellor) didn’t
-therefore Brown set up economic conditions that had to be met for GB to give up the pound which were stringent and unlikely to be met (known as the Five Tests)
-opinion polls showed most GB public were against joining the euro
-officially decided not to in 2003
how did Blair strengthen the role of the EU in the wider world?
-took the lead in european initiatives on issues like climate change
-Britain was at the centre of efforts to develop a common european strategy against the threat of global terrorism post 9/11
describe Blair’s budgetary contributions and the common agricultural policy:
-GB’s contributions were disproportionately large and only received 9% from CAP
-Thatcher had negotiated the rebate but since 1973 GB had paid more in that it received back
-Blair was prepared to pay a fair share but only if there were reforms to the CAP and GB continued to receive the rebate
-this failed as GB lost the rebate and their annual contributions rose to £7bn
what was Blair’s position in europe like at the time of his resignation?
-prestige was still high
-he had excellent relations with leaders like Merkel
but evidence of limited progress with europe:
-slow progress on climate change and aid in africa
-britain seemed unlikely to join euro
-attempts to reform the workings of the EU ended in the rejection of a proposed new constitution
-struggled with relations with Jack Chirac (France) and Schroder (Germany)
-faced internal criticism within party from those who saw further integration into a ‘pro capitalist institution’ prevented socialist policies from evolving
what was Blair’s view on the ‘special relationship’ with the US?
he was keen to maintain it
evidence of collaboration with US:
-blair + clinton’s governments were both influenced by the third way
-blair believed it was essential to keep the US involved in european affairs and make use of NATO to defend the new world order after the cold war
-2000 = bush becomes US president - they developed a close relationship especially on the issue of tackling terrorism
what was a criticism about GB and US relations at this time?
criticisms that GB foreign policy was too dominated by US priorities
what was Blair’s preferred strategy in terms of military interventions?
liberal interventionalism - known as the blair doctrine. involved intervention being justified when there was a humanitarian crisis (e.g. ethnic cleansing in kosovo) and it is used to promote human rights, democracy etc. UN should lead on intervention however individual nations should act when the UN failed to respond quicky/effectively
what action did Blair take against Serbia?
-wanted to persuade clinton to back military action against serbia
-led to 1999 NATO bombing campaign against them in response to serbian attacks on kssovo which forced serbian troops to retreat - this was an early success for blair
what did GB do in Sierra Leone?
-sent armed forces in after rebel forces emerged
-GB and UN forces helped to bring an end to the civil war there in 2001
what preparations and actions were made post 9/11?
-preparations to use NATO forces to invade afghanistan (Al-Qaeda had a base there)
-on october 2001, GB joined US in a military campaign to overthrow the taliban and expel Al-Qaeda, were supported by NATO + UN
results of action in afghanistan:
-initial hopes of peace were gone as leaders of the taliban and Al-Qaeda had fled
-there was a new democratic regime but progress towards economic and social development was slow
what were the fears surrounding Iraq from 2002?
fears of the threat of Hussein to the west - feared iraq could link up with Al-Qaeda or that they could develop weapons of mass destruction
what was the UN resolution in 2002, and what was the dispute about this resolution?
-forced Hussein to allow weapon inspectors back into Iraq but by 2003 the US has suspicions that he wasn’t cooperating
-there was dispute within the UN about whether this gave them permission to use military force - blair tried to push for a second resolution but ultimately this was unsuccessful
when was an invasion of Iraq launched?
-march 2003
-launched by american forces
-backed by a ‘coalition of the willing’ which included britain
what occured april 2003?
-victory and overthrow of Hussein
-BUT no ‘neat’ end to the war - by 2006 there were improvements to the security situation but few of the expectations when the war was launched had been proved right
negatives of Iraq for Blair:
-involvement was very controversial - foreign secretary Robin Cook resigned over it
-‘stop the war’ march 2003 attracted over 1 mil people in london
-main criticism was that they failed to actually find any weapons of mass destruction
-as the war went on, GB + US soldiers had been accused of mistreating Iraqi PoW
-by the end of 2007, GB had only achieved limited and partial success
-hugely damaging to his reputation
positives of Iraq war for Blair:
-his defenders argued that Blair was genuinely concerned about WMD and was correct in his analysis of the need to ensure the US continued to be part of the international world order
-as there was now a democratic gov. in Iraq, it could be hoped that there could be long term success in the future
Britain’s position in the world by 2007:
-Iraq war damaged the government’s reputation internationally and within Britain
-Blair’s idea of liberal interventionalism was discredited - could lead to GB’s world position declining
-Iraq war showed GB was not an independent/fair judge of international disputes - therefore this discredited efforts to mediate in the palestine/israel conflict
-special relationship had been strengthened but it was clear GB was still the junior partner in the relationship
-GB’s position in europe remained ambivalent especially due to deep divisions between european countries who opposed the iraq war and britain
