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The article examines the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which was concluded in 2020 to deal with the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Great Britain after Brexit. Topics covered include the TCA's obligations relating to labour standards generally and the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards in particular, and the commitment to the freedom of association and its implications for Great Britain.

The article analyzes the British government document "Global Britain in a Competitive Age: The Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy" released in 2021. Topics discussed include the role of foreign-policy experts and historian John Bew in the document, plan of the government to expand the nuclear deterrent of Great Britain as stated in the document, and the approach of the document to national security.

This analysis explores the shifting definitions of what constituted a diplomat in post-Second World War Britain. Post-war women's liberation generated unique dilemmas for Foreign Office recruiters: whilst reluctant to employ women on equal terms with men, they nonetheless fell under pressure to demonstrate that Britain's self-styled international reputation as a vanquisher of Nazi tyranny and oppression applied to women's employment. Women were admitted to the Diplomatic Service in 1946 on the basis that arguments in favour of women diplomats complemented and even enhanced Foreign Office attempts to model itself as a bastion of equal opportunity, fairness, and, later, 'meritocracy'. This analysis explores internal Foreign Office debates about the employment of women diplomats after the Second World War, but it also makes a related argument about the value of 'organisation history' and what a study of Foreign Office culture can reveal about the society in which is operated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of modern British foreign policy largely devolves from an exclusively male perspective. In many respects, this was natural and appropriate because, until the 1940s, only men held senior positions in the Diplomatic Service. During the early twentieth century, attempts to change the "Foreign Office mind" to promote a greater acceptance of the role of women in the conduct and formulation of British diplomacy remained largely resisted. However, when examining the careers of the other group of women who worked at the Foreign Office, the clerical staff, the vast ranks of filing clerks, and shorthand typists, a very different view of this bastion of male conservatism emerges. With prosopography and on-line genealogy resources, this analysis traces a large cross-section of these women and analyses their life patterns and working experiences. It reveals that many of these women enjoyed quite a flexible working experience, with plenty of opportunities for career advancement, with some even transferring from the clerical classes to the Consular Service. This exegesis represents the first attempt to use prosoprographic techniques in the study of British foreign policy and suggests other ways to expand the present study and other similar projects undertaken to examine other government departments concerned with foreign affairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses several articles published within issue on topics discussed at fourth series of meetings, titled ‘Turkey and Britain, from Enemies to Allies', which was organized on September 26–27, 2019 by the British Institute at Ankara and Koc University.

This analysis challenges the traditional approach to studying the creation of foreign policy within the Foreign and Commonwealth Office [FCO]. Whilst most historical and contemporary research has focused upon the role of the foreign secretary, permanent under-secretary, and senior overseas representatives, this exegesis argues that an overlooked department – the Policy Planning Staff and its contemporary successor, the Policy Unit – has had significant influence over the debate and direction of British foreign policy. Drawing upon documents received under the Freedom of Information Act, archival documents, and interviews conducted with current and previous members of the Staff and the wider FCO, it reveals the rationale for the planning department, its roles, structure, staffing, and influence on foreign policy over time. It concludes that the department has been, and remains, a crucial part of the policy-making process and, therefore, warrants further attention from historians and those interested in contemporary foreign policy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis explores the history and structure of the archive of the Edwardian Foreign Office. It uses data and quantitative research methodology to address two crucial questions. What survives within the collection? And what can historians and others find using the regular discovery tools such as indexes and catalogues? It concludes by looking at how these processes shape the ways historians are using this collection; and in doing so, it provides a crucial new context for any historians using this hugely important source and poses some challenging questions about the nature of archival research methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the relationship between South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK) in the post-Brexit era. An overview of the history of the SA-UK relationship until the negotiation of the SACU + M-UK agreement in 2019 is provided. At least two scenarios in a post-Brexit UK-European Union trade relationship are analysed and their implications for SA-UK relations are discussed. The article explores the question: will the post-Brexit period be characterised by an increasingly aggressive Britain striving to re-assert its power in the world, or shall the world see a new idealist Britain seeking to increase cooperation in its own region and globally? The article argues that South Africa should expect the first scenario but also prepare to influence the UK towards the second scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses economic relations between the United Kingdom and other countries of the Commonwealth in the long term. While looking at past relations between these countries, it also provides some guidance on the prospects of future engagement consequent upon the UK exiting the European Union. The article concludes that although Commonwealth trade is unlikely to replace European trade, such trade will in all likelihood grow in the future, which could help to enhance the UK's links with other countries outside Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the 1935–1936 Abyssinian crisis and the 1938 Munich conference, Britain's interests in the Balkans and its relationship with other Great Powers limited British policy towards Yugoslavia. This analysis points to a higher level of British influence in Belgrade in the mid-1930s than is usually recognised in the historiography and argues that by not responding adequately to security challenges in the Balkans after the withdrawal of French influence from the region, Britain contributed to a power-vacuum for Germany to fill. As the British position in Southeastern Europe weakened after summer 1936 due to advancing Italian and German penetration, Yugoslavia's importance grew in the eyes of Foreign Office officials. However, Britain's position in Belgrade eroded to such a degree by late 1938 that Yugoslavia was no longer willing or able to offer any assistance in the event of war. This examination provides a better understanding of Britain's interests in Southeastern Europe by highlighting the geo-strategic importance of Yugoslavia and the Balkans as a buffer zone to Central Europe and a flank of Britain's Mediterranean routes when the balance of power in the continent was disturbed to British disadvantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis explores British perceptions and roles regarding the negotiation of the West German-Soviet Moscow treaty of 1970. Whilst supportive of West German Ostpolitik, Britain has received a very marginal role in the historiography of the treaty. By exploring the consultation process in the so-called Bonn Group of the United States, Britain, France, and West Germany, this exegesis explains that Britain played a leading role in building consensus and forming schemes to resolve the issue of the treatment of Quadripartite Rights and Responsibilities concerning Berlin in the Moscow treaty package. As background, this essay also explains the policies of the Harold Wilson's Labour government and Edward Heath's Conservative government regarding European détente in Europe, including West German Ostpolitik. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After three frustrating years of fruitless efforts to convince the United Kingdom (UK) to end the conflict in Rhodesia, Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda and his United National Independence Party (UNIP) embarked on a different foreign relations course in late 1968 which lasted through the end of 1973. During this five-year span, Kaunda and his UNIP colleagues attempted to assert African agency in order to build an international alliance which would apply diplomatic and economic pressure for peace and justice in southern Africa. Kaunda felt emboldened to pursue a high-profile diplomatic agenda through active participation in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations (UN), the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). An important aspect of Kaunda's alliance-building strategy was seeking support from the administration of Richard Nixon in the United States of America (USA). From 1968 to 1973, Kenneth Kaunda launched a diplomatic offensive in hopes of asserting African agency and attaining top-level participation by the USA in a broad alliance to promote peace and racial equality in southern Africa; however, Richard Nixon did not share Kaunda's priorities regarding southern Africa nor his faith in international organisations and rejected his efforts out of hand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do UK policymakers mean when they say that Britain's strategic environment is returning to "multipolarity"? In realist international theory, polarity is a specific causal concept; the number of powers capable of balancing even the most capable other state(s) in the international system ("poles") is taken to determine the system's stability. Does the post-2017 appearance of polarity references in British security policy documents therefore reflect some unexpected UK renaissance of realist thought? Or is something else going on, as recent work by Ben Zala suggests? This article will demonstrate that, while UK official usage of the "multip–" word has indeed flourished recently, the term is actually being used in a more elastic, less bounded way than realism prescribes in order to generate other kinds of political effect. Specifically, "polarity" (and its "multi-" prefix) is used to characterise the behaviour of those major states that oppose Western-preferred international order, to elide Britain's own relative power/status tensions, and to capture an expansive laundry-list of perceived international dangers. The article then discusses five ways in which a shift in polarity could negatively affect Britain; important consequences that merit preparatory contemplation, yet that an imprecise, catch-all understanding of "multipolarity" too readily obscures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connection between Aboriginal people and the British Crown is well established. Less understood is their appreciation of, and reliance on, British democratic traditions in their politics. Drawing on the archive of Aboriginal activist, William Cooper, this article explores the way he used the language and practices associated with British democracy to advance his political claims in interwar Australia. With Protestant Christianity, Britishness represented a cluster of values and attributes which Cooper claimed as the Aborigines' own. In drawing on an 'imperial ideology of democracy', he was part of a global black political renaissance characteristic of the times demanding justice, freedom and representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the imperial socialisation of young consular officials and how they were prepared for their role as intermediaries between Britain and China. Drawing on private papers and public archives, it uses the career of one such official to analyse the processes which took place when they joined the China Consular Service and how their evolving mentality reflected and further shaped its collective mind. It argues that such officials learned to develop a cultural sensitivity towards China which would be key to their ability to forge the collaborative relationships that underpinned the British presence. Whilst it is generally acknowledged that that presence was marked by an unquestioning belief in the imperial mission, there has been less focus on how that sensitivity enabled Britain to maintain its dominant position in China until the outbreak of the First World War. The article argues that, although that sensitivity was self-serving, and notwithstanding the unequal treaties, it derived from a genuine interest in and sympathy for the country which was instilled into officials from the outset of their careers. However, those elements also helped perpetuate the degradation of China's sovereignty during this period. To understand how this took place and why China continues to characterise the period as 'the century of humiliation', we need first to explore how that sensitivity, with its underlying ambiguities and tensions, was forged and sustained as part of the mind-set of the consular service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how the Foreign Office's Information Research Department (I.R.D.) worked with SAVAK, the Iranian intelligence service, between 1956 and 1968. It explores how a mutual fear of the Soviet Union compelled both departments to work together to produce and disseminate anti-communist propaganda. As well as the publication of books, prominent Iranian journalists would be given stories that praised the Shah's regime and discredited the Soviet Union. SAVAK figures were also invited to Britain by the I.R.D. to attend training sessions on producing propaganda. The ties between both agencies, however, meant SAVAK was able to persuade the I.R.D. to assist in the conception of anti-Arab Nationalist propaganda, something that contravened wider British foreign policy. Moreover, such an agency-led approach was rendered short-lived. By 1968, many of the SAVAK figures friendly to the I.R.D. were promoted and replaced by individuals less keen on working with the British. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Only David Lloyd George of the Big Four survived to play a major role in early post-war diplomacy, remaining as British premier until October 1922. This analysis assesses the development of his ideas and policies with particular reference to his war aims speech of 5 January 1918, his Peace Conference Fontainebleau Memorandum of 25 March 1919, and the paper handed to the French premier, Aristide Briand, at Cannes on 4 January 1922. John Maynard Keynes accused Lloyd George of being "rooted in nothing," but Edward House's grudging acknowledgement that "With all his faults, he is by birth, instinct and upbringing, a liberal" seems a fairer assessment. He attempted to put his ideas, based on self-determination, trade, disarmament, and a broad sense of what was just, into practice in his ambitious attempt to re-engage Germany and the Soviet Union into the mainstream of international politics at the 1922 Genoa Conference. By then his credibility with his French counterparts and Tories at home was much depleted. Furthermore, he neglected laying the tedious but necessary foundations on which to build his vision and the constraints of international and domestic politics thwarted his proposed panacea to post-war problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years have witnessed increasing interest amongst international historians on the influence by experts on foreign policy decision making. Most work thus far has concentrated on American foreign policy since 1945, but this analysis broadens the focus to consider the impact of experts on British decision makers through the use of informal networks below the level of Cabinet ministers whilst debating the future of the city of Danzig at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. It shows that despite a tendency by the protagonists to interpret their actions as subverting the official role and function of the Foreign Office, sufficient evidence can be found to suggest that through the use of back-channels to David Lloyd George, the prime minister, via Philip Kerr, his private secretary, some officials, such as James Headlam-Morley, within the Office managed to influence high-level decision making at Paris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis charts the changes in British aid policy under the Margaret Thatcher government (1979-1990). In particular, it examines the impact of so-called neo-liberal ideology in overseas development strategy in an era where "structural adjustment"—aid in return for market-based reforms—became World Bank and International Monetary Fund orthodoxy. There is some evidence to show British increases in multilateral aid during the 1980s supported a neo-liberal aid policy. Bilateral aid policy, however, demonstrated a subordination of aid to foreign policy and a pro-business—not ideologically pro-market or neo-liberal—alignment. One of the results of these structural changes was the Pergau Dam scandal at the end of the Thatcher years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how a resurgent clash of Arab and Israeli nationalisms created tensions within New Labour as the leadership sought to reconcile claims of duplicity in its Middle East policy after 9/11 while retaining party unity and an international consensus for a war in Afghanistan. It argues that as European and international pressure to prioritise Middle East peace before pursuing a war with Iraq increased, Tony Blair's emphasis on economic progress as a prerequisite to creating a state of Palestine was expanded to determine that Palestinian national rights also be considered on the evidence of fundamental reform and modernisation across the spectrum of political, civil and cultural life. These objectives, however, were not to be achieved following the deployment of a UN peace-keeping force, but the prevailing conditions of the Israeli occupation, provisos later inscribed in the US-led goal-driven, performance-based Road Map for Peace. This focus ran in parallel with his assumed role as a transatlantic 'bridge', and collectively helped to transform the multilateralist template of the Quartet into a classic trilateralist negotiating model—bilateral Arab-Israel talks, unilaterally overseen by the US—enacting the further exclusion of key European partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the current state of economic relations that the United Kingdom has with New Zealand and Australia, in light of the former's decision to leave the European Union.  Although there are prospects for future trade between these countries post-Brexit based on the three countries' current comparative advantages, perhaps the greatest scope is for greater trade in services along with greater investment flows.  Trade in food produce would be affected by changes in trade policy post-Brexit but other goods such as forestry, mineral and manufacturing products would be more affected by changes in general economic conditions and the relative competiveness of the industries in international markets. Already these aspects of trade are important and are expected to grow and develop over time.  Much of the future negotiations between the three countries will take up a range of issues associated with investment and the trade in services and much of the future prospects for growth in trade might depend on the success of these negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis of British Ostpolitik focuses on Margaret Thatcher's diplomacy, exploring her quietly pragmatic efforts to bring about a gradual transformation of Eastern Europe at the cost of supporting selected communist regimes. The analysis reveals how a market-oriented economic experiment in Budapest first sparked the prime minister's interest in Hungary and inspired her foreign policy in Eastern Europe. It documents the British search for a socialist transition 'model', which led to unprecedented diplomatic overtures towards a small enemy state on the brink of bankruptcy. Based on extensive archival research in Budapest and London, as well as on the personal recollections of three senior British diplomats, this case study challenges some of the common assumptions of the historical literature about Thatcher's chosen method of combating communism and Britain's long-term strategy towards the Eastern bloc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2004 a collection of thirty-four letters from the Silk Road explorer Sir Aurel Stein was found in the archives of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs and catalogued, although not transcribed or studied. Neither of Stein's biographers, Jeannette Mirsky (published 1977), nor Annabel Walker (published 1995) knew about these letters, and there are no references to them in more recent publications either. What is perhaps even more interesting is that the Society's letters are addressed to a man whose name does not appear in any published works on Stein; a man who remains an elusive figure more than half a century after his death - Colonel Reginald Schomberg D.S.O. (1880-1958), an explorer and spy. This article analyses the contents of the letters, which shed light on a secret mission undertaken by Schomberg in Chinese Central Asia in the early 1930s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to explain how Britain and Turkey established a partnership in the second half of the 1930s despite the fact that they failed to agree upon a common rival to stand against. The prevailing International Relations literature highlights the existence of a common enemy as an essential component of alliance formation in world politics. The paradox underlying the British–Turkish partnership was the absence of a common enemy, since Britain was mainly disturbed by the revisionist policies of Germany, while Turkey was threatened by Italy's aggressive policy over the Mediterranean. In this respect, the article will first discuss how the academic literature explains the essential components of alliance formation in international relations. The second section will discuss in detail how British and Turkish threat perceptions diverged emphasizing the lack of a common rival. The final section will discuss how a bilateral partnership was successfully forged despite the absence of a common rival. Overall, the article argues that Britain and Turkey formed a partnership without a common enemy, as they shared a common fear of abandonment, i.e. the fear of losing an actual or a potential ally to an enemy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between Turkey and Britain shifted dramatically in the first three decades of the twentieth century, with the one-time diplomatic defender of Ottoman integrity emerging as its most formidable foe during the First World War and War of Independence. Despite this history of enmity, Turco–British relations entered a period of remarkable recovery in the years after 1923 as potential areas of conflict, such as the status of Mosul province and militarisation and access to the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, were resolved. Nevertheless, recriminations with their origins in this crucial period of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and foundation of the Turkish Republic lingered, sustaining suspicions over British intentions towards Turkey and its neighbours up until the present. Perhaps surprisingly, the UK–Turkey relationship has remained notably cordial in the midst of growing diplomatic hostility between Turkey and its Nato partners over the past two years. In a special issue of Middle Eastern Studies, historians re-examine diplomatic, economic, cultural, and intellectual connections between the two countries during the period 1914–1939, advancing historical scholarship on this crucial relationship through the use of sources from Turkey, Britain, and further afield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses about the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) between the U.S., Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and China. In this report, the author comments on the indifference of France and China who refuses to sign and ratify the treaty. The author also indicated the potential risk brought about by the Republic of South Africa, who has not as yet indicated any intention of signing NPT. According to the author, the treaty limits possession of nuclear weapons to the member nations, and that nonsignatory of these nations presents risks of arms transfer.

The article discusses issues and topics concerning the agreement between the U.S., Great Britain and the Soviet Union on the monitoring of nuclear weapons tests during a conference held on November 24, 1959 in Geneva, Switzerland. The negotiations among scientific experts has called for considerations on technical evidence concerning the discovery of underground explosions. In contrast to the success achieved by the international scientific community two years ago, renewed negotiations among scientific experts concerning the discovery of underground explosions have ended in deadlock and mutual recriminations. This paper highlights some of the factors that have led to the failure in Geneva.

In 1877, employing the unwanted presence of armed Sioux in western Canada as a useful mechanism, Canada’s Cabinet, represented by Minister of the Interior David Mills, unhappy with perceived British indifference to Canada’s concerns, sought to initiate direct diplomatic relations with the United States. That effort failed, and British opposition to this endeavour was so sharp that Canada made no similar initiative for half a century. Although he failed, Mills’ effort marked the birth of the Functional notion that Canada’s voice should matter more in Imperial foreign policy formulation when its direct interests were at stake, especially when dealing with the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2011 William Hague, then British Foreign Secretary, authorized Special Forces to enter Libya and contact rebels opposed to Muammar Gaddafi in the unfolding civil war. However, its members were detained by the rebels and ejected from the country. This article puts the literature on public policy failures into dialogue with that on covert action as a tool of foreign policy. It asks: why did this not develop into a fully fledged policy fiasco when journalists and politicians judged it to have been a major error of judgement on Hague’s part? Using narrative analysis of the contemporary reporting of this incident, we argue that the government - possessing the advantage of information asymmetry accruing from operational secrecy - was able to win the battle of narratives in a frame contestation process. The article reflects on how the study of information asymmetry can enhance the recently revivified research into foreign policy failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the economic and political impact of the Second World War upon a small outpost of Britain’s informal empire. It analyses the multiple ways in which the economy, trade and governance of the Trucial Coast were disrupted, disturbed and challenged by the exceptional circumstances of the war. In response to these circumstances, a variety of emergency arrangements were introduced, resulting in an unprecedented degree of involvement of outsiders and foreign agencies in the management of the local economy. The transformation of Britain’s traditional policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of the Trucial Coast is traced back to the exigencies of wartime conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft power is one of the most familiar, yet misunderstood concepts in international relations. It is often used to describe cultural attraction and familiarity with a place in the belief that ‘to know us is to love us’. However, this paper calls for a reappraisal of soft power to focus more on political culture and behaviour - the power of example. Drawing on the experience of the United Kingdom the paper suggests that if the country wishes to confront and manage the challenges it now faces, including the uncertainty of Brexit, then a new understanding of soft power is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to explore and illustrate some “dynamics of transition” across some six decades of British protection of the Brunei Sultanate, 1906-1967, with particular reference to the interaction of traditional administration and the new system of governance of a Residency, especially in the part of Tutong district that was home to the Dusun/Bisaya ethnic minority. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article publishes for the first time selections of the private correspondence (placing them in their historical context) of John G. T. Shipman (1939–2016), who took up his position as assistant adviser in the Eastern Aden Protectorate at the end of 1962 just as the first signs of political and social change were appearing in South Arabia. He served from this position in different parts of the Eastern Aden Protectorate until 1967. Shipman's correspondence allows for an unmediated appreciation of how people on the ground experienced the historical events at the time, including the British withdrawal in 1967, and highlights the extent of their own grasp of the goings-on when contrasted with the historical record. In this sense, the scope of this article is to allow the voice of one of the many British colonial officials to directly narrate their encounters during the last five years of British colonial rule over southern Arabia. The perceptive eye of a young political officer coupled with the ephemeral character of his handwritten correspondence, which providentially survived for more than five decades although it was never intended for publication, offers a fresh insight into the political and social life of the Eastern Aden Protectorate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article, based on the Robert Menzies Lecture delivered by the author in London on 31 October 2017, provides a survey of Britain and Australia’s bilateral relationship from the 1930s to the present. In the earlier period particular attention is given to the role of Sir Robert Menzies. The relationship is examined in the light of Britain’s accession to the EEC/EU with reference to bilateral trade, security and global politics, and migration, with emphasis on strong people-to-people links. The author expresses hopes for renewed co-operation over free trade, a rules-based world outlook and links between universities in a post-Brexit world. He argues that although the bilateral relationship went through some troubled times in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, it is now getting back to the natural strength that it deserves. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented examining how Victorian British foreign policy was impacted by the Dilessi murders, the 1870 murder of British travellers in Greece by brigands. It looks at the relationship between foreign policy and domestic party politics to discuss Liberal political attitudes of the era. Particular attention is given to the views of prime ministers Lord Palmerston and William Ewart Gladstone, and statesman Richard Cobden.

This article reviews attempts by Britain and the Commonwealth to secure the release of Nelson Mandela from imprisonment in South Africa in the 1980s. It does so by drawing upon a recently published collection of documents compiled by Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as well as on interviews conducted recently for the London-based Commonwealth Oral History Project. Despite her staunch opposition to the further sanctions that the rest of the Commonwealth wished to impose on South Africa, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister, is shown to have tried doggedly to persuade the South African Prime Minister, then President, P.W. Botha, to release Mandela unconditionally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

During World War One, both Arabs and Zionists sought to become "the tools of British imperialism." The British exploited both as their own interests dictated, without giving a thought for future consequences. In 1915, the MacMahon-Husayn correspondence – conducted between Britain's High Commissioner in Cairo and a non-representative Arab Bedouin leader from the Arabian Peninsula – ended inconclusively, without agreement. In contrast, the Balfour Declaration - the culmination of 6 months of British-initiated negotiations with the Zionists, was published in order to further Britain's military, strategic and propaganda interests. At the time, the British considered it to have been a 'brilliant coup'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of land has both a particular historic significance and an enduring contemporary political importance in modern-day Zimbabwe. The unresolved issue of compensation for far-reaching land restitution also poses a continued impediment to any improvement in British–Zimbabwean relations. Given the impassioned accusations against the British government for its failure to fund a substantial land transfer scheme at independence, which gathered pace and vehemence in the late 1990s, this article offers new evidence of British officials’ deliberations on whether or not to implement a far-reaching land transfer scheme in 1979, repeating the approach towards another white settler colony, Kenya. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From 1946–1963, MI5 operated a South-East Asian regional headquarters in Singapore: Security Intelligence Far East (SIFE). This article responds to growing interest in theatre-level intelligence organisation and the importance of intelligence to Britain’s Cold War and decolonisation by examining the performance of SIFE. On the organisational level, SIFE was strongest when it remained wedded to its charter functions and closely adhered to the priorities of its principal consumer: the Commissioner-General for South-East Asia. Its assessments were influential in shaping decision-makers’ understandings of key regional developments, although this did not always translate into public policy. Lastly, SIFE enjoyed success in developing lasting liaison relationships to cement British influence, but failed to utilise these to improve its intake of raw intelligence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Developing explanations for how sub-state governments are active internationally is central to understanding their unexpected growth as international actors. Building upon Lecours’ work [2002, Paradiplomacy: reflections on the foreign policy and international relations of regions,International Negotiation, Vol.7, pp.91–114], this article develops an expanded historical institutionalist analysis of the international agency of sub-state governments. Its original empirical contribution is utilizing this approach to examine within case variation across four contrasting policy domains in a case study of Wales. Reflecting the European Union sub-state mobilization literature, levels of constitutional powers are constrained in their capacity to account for Welsh sub-state international agency. Instead, the article highlights strong variation in the opportunity structures shaping sub-state diplomacy across policy domains. The article argues that institutional continuity and change, the prevalence of ‘path dependence’, can differ significantly between policy domains in sub-state diplomacy, argues for an expanded multi-level framework recognizing the impact of non-governmental organizations and international institutional opportunity structures and confirms historical institutionalism’s ability to enrich understanding of agency-structure relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eklogi was published in 1945 by the Political Warfare Executive to be transferred, the following year, to the British Embassy. It belonged to the category of the International Digest issued by the Central Office of Information (COI) in several languages. The magazine was distributed to a wide range of recipients. A special cooperation between the Embassy and the PEAT (suppliers of newsagents) ensured sales in the provinces. Reader's Digest was its main commercial rival. Yet, evidence available to the Embassy showed that Eklogi continued to make 'its special impact'. At the height of the Greek civil war the FO believed that Eklogi would be 'one of the most obvious channels to be so used' of disseminating offensive propaganda in Greece. Eklogi closed in 1950. Its title was transferred to Eleni Vlachou of Kathimerini. She continued the magazine for another decade, using articles supplied by COI, and consulting the Embassy on the overall content of Eklogi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the stance of Great Britain on the possible use of nuclear weapons by the U.S. in the latter's fight against terrorism. Information on the U.S. 'Nuclear Posture Review' regarding the use of nuclear arms by the country; Views of British Defense Department secretary Geoff Hoon on the issue; Details on the investments of Great Britain in its atomic weapons facility in Aldermaston, Berkshire.

Focuses on the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. on the people of Great Britain. Information on the special relationship between Britain and the U.S.; Provisions of the anti-terrorism, crime and security bill; Reaction of Britain to terrorist threats.

Presents news briefs related to intelligence and nuclear weapons development. Protest made by Great Britain to the Soviet Union when it invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968; Revelation that Australia had at one time considered acquiring nuclear arsenal; Decision of Russia to demobilized its combat-trained Beluga whales.

The role of Great Powers in processes of secession and recognition has attracted increasing attention from scholars in recent years. This analysis examines how Britain rallied international opposition to the November 1983 unilateral declaration of independence [UDI] of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” [TRNC]. The British Government tried hard to prevent the UDI. Once it occurred, Britain led efforts to condemn the move. It resulted in United Nations Security Council Resolution 541, which declared the TRNC illegal and called on states not to recognise it. As well as exploring the diplomacy behind the counter-secession efforts, this examination also answers a long-standing question as to whether any countries aside from Turkey ever recognised the TRNC. It also challenges the widely held view amongst Greek Cypriots that Britain invariably supports the Turkish Cypriots on the Cyprus Problem. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From 1936–39 and 1946–49 Sir Charles Leonard Woolley excavated the site of Tell Atchana/ancient Alalakh in southern Turkey on behalf of the British Museum. The statue of King Idrimi, found in 1939, became one of the British Museum’s many prized objects and is on display to this day. At the close of the excavation season in June 1939 the statue became the subject of a dispute between Woolley and the government of the Hatay State, solved only after the intervention of the British Consul of Aleppo, the British Ambassador at Ankara and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This paper traces the statue’s journey from its discovery to the British Museum and back to the New Hatay Archaeological Museum in the form of a hologram. Abbreviations:TNA: The National Archives, London; BMCE: British Museum Central Archives [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

From the late nineteenth century, both Argentina and Chile were integral parts of Britain’s ‘informal’ empire in Latin America. It has been suggested by historians that this ‘informal empire’ came to an end around the mid-twentieth century. By analysing contemporary sources from within the British government and the findings of later economic historians, it is the purpose of this article to contest this viewpoint. It will instead argue that the end of ‘informal’ empire in these countries was a direct consequence of the First World War, and that the decline in British influence in the region was registered by British policy-makers much earlier than has previously been argued. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Calais Jungle has existed in some form for several years. It grew in size tremendously as a result of the so-called ‘refugee crisis’, but was spectacularly demolished in October 2016. When the Jungle was still standing, it was a site of intense violence perpetuated by the local police, state authorities as well as French legal systems. Much of the literature that has explored the Jungle thus far has rightly depicted it as an unofficial refugee camp, a ‘state of exception’ and a site of biopolitical experimentation with distinct ‘camp geographies’. However, it is the contention of this paper that while these experimentations occur and fuel the precariousness of the site, the Jungle can be seen as a slum, and indeed, that it can be seen as a slum of London’s making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

UK policies embrace the ideas of security–development nexus, but most scholarship on its engagement builds upon African cases. This paper examines the drivers, nature and implications of UK involvement with an Asian country, Nepal. The UK’s position as the largest bilateral contributor and major peace and security donor among at least 21 others makes examination of its Nepal involvement imperative. This paper uses the grounded theory method and interpretivist analytical approach to create interactions between published and field information. Although the UK’s persistent engagement and programme-based approach helped peacefully manage transition, this paper contends, institutional changes have been shallow and winning confidence remains strenuous. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the footballing relationship between the UK and Scandinavia during the period 1898–1914, specifically that between first-tier Scottish football clubs and the Danish Football Association (Dansk Boldspil Union, DBU) and the middle-class Copenhagen clubs which dominated it. The strictly amateur DBU and its city clubs invited British football clubs to Denmark on summer tours of the country to learn how to play the game; and, in turn, British clubs typically received a payment to come over. This article examines the common themes in both the Scottish and Danish press accounts of these tours, particularly the use of sketches, cartoons and other imagery. Then, the political context of British and Scandinavian football during the period is examined, including Scotland’s anomalous relationship with FIFA, the new governing body of world football. Finally, this article looks at the touristic accounts of Scots whilst in Denmark, ones which typically sought out the familiar. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]