Search

Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg is New Zealand's outstanding military leader. But that pedestal was nearly never constructed. Within the first hundred days following Winston Churchill unexpectedly becoming the British prime minister on 10 May 1940, his long friendship with Freyberg was renewed and then severely tested. The new prime minister, who was his own defence minister, wanted Freyberg -- throughout the Second World War a British Army general and a Conservative Party candidate for the next British general election -- close by him. During the Battle of Britain he even toyed with the idea of giving Freyberg a substantial military role. [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]

Brexit has a habit of rendering research redundant rapidly. Since I wrote 'Brexit and EU Legitimation: Martyr for the EU Cause?' (published in New Perspectives vol. 27 [3]), Boris Johnson has won a large majority on the back of his promise to 'Get Brexit Done' and his ability to pass a withdrawal agreement. As such the chances of a no-deal Brexit have receded (for now). This has not rendered my analysis obsolete, but reflecting upon Johnson's slogan has led me to realise that my analysis could be broadened. In this addendum, I flesh out what is left ambiguous in the article and develop a more holistic framework for analysing the discursive effects of Brexit. In doing so, I make the argument that for the European Union (EU), Brexit will never be 'done', at least for the EU. Instead, Britain's fortunes look set to become a bellwether for soft Eurosceptics considering turning hard. The extent to which Britain is perceived to bask in the 'sunlit uplands' or, conversely, to suffer economic and/or political disaster as a consequence of leaving the EU will inform whether Britain is used as a 'model' or a 'martyr' at any given time. Thus, Britain's fortunes have thus become inextricably linked to the EU. [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]

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]

Many studies have explored the importance of public opinion in British foreign policy decision-making, especially when it comes to the UK's relations with the United States and the European Union. Despite its importance, there is a dearth of research on public opinion about British foreign policy towards other major players in the international system, such as emerging powers like China. We have addressed this knowledge gap by conducting a public opinion survey in the UK after the Brexit referendum. Our research findings indicate that the British public at large finds China's rise disconcerting, but is also pragmatic in its understanding of how the ensuing bilateral relations should be managed. More importantly, our results show that views on China are clearly split between the two opposing Brexit identities. Those who subscribe strongly to the Leave identity, measured by their aversion to the EU and antipathy towards immigration, are also more likely to hold negative perceptions of Chinese global leadership and be more suspicious of China as a military threat. In contrast, those who espouse a Remain identity—that is, believe that Britain would be better served within the EU and with more immigrants—are more likely to prefer closer engagement with China and to have a more positive outlook overall on China's place within the global community. [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]

In this article, Britain's attitude towards Nigerians' voluntary enlistment as combatants during the Second World War is studied. The historical method is deployed to interrogate previously untapped archival sources on the subject. Against the conventional wisdom, this micro-study posits Britain's rebuff of Nigerians' voluntary enlistment in order to preserve white supremacy by not arming and deploying Africans to fight Europeans. Nigerians protested the British treatment of the war as a white man's war in which Africans had no significant role to play. Pressure on British manpower necessitated a policy reversal. Conscription was, thus, not due to Africans' refusal to fight for Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nüzhet Sabit was a typical Ottoman intellectual of the Second Constitutional Period(19081918). He distinguished foreign politics from domestics politics, and discussed them separately in his articles. When the Constitution was restored in 1908, the Young Turks intended to establish friendly relations with both France and England. Towards Germany, which had supported Abdülhamid II, on the other hand, they had a more distanced attitude. In time this preference changed, and Germany was once more seen as an ally. The break-out of World War I, however, forced the heads of the Ottoman State to take sides. Eventually, it joined the alliance led by Germany and stayed in this group until the end of the war, which it would conclude in defeat for them. In this article as an opponent intellectual and journalist Nüzhet Sabit's views are explained about the foreign policy of Committee of Union and Progress. [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]

Among both elites and the mass public, conservatives and liberal differ in their foreign policy preferences. Relatively little effort, however, has been put toward showing that, beyond the use of force, these differences affect the day-to-day outputs and processes of foreign policy. This article uses United Nations voting data from 1946 to 2008 of the five major Anglophone democracies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to show that each of these countries votes more in line with the rest of the world when liberals are in power. This can be explained by ideological differences between conservatives and liberals and the ways in which the socializing power of international institutions interact with preexisting ideologies. The results hope to encourage more research into the ways in which ideological differences among the masses and elites translate into differences in foreign policy goals and practices across governments. [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]

Britain's war in Afghanistan – specifically its latter stages, where the UK's role and casualties sustained in the conflict rose dramatically – coincided with the institutional emergence of Ministry of Defence-led 'Strategic Communication'. This article examines the circumstances through which domestic strategic communication developed within the UK state and the manner in which the 'narratives' supporting Britain's role in Afghanistan were altered, streamlined and 'securitised'. I argue that securitising the Afghanistan narrative was undertaken with the intention of misdirecting an increasingly sceptical UK public from the failure of certain aspects of UK counter-insurgency strategy – specifically its counter-narcotics and stabilisation efforts – by focusing on counter-terrorism, and of avoiding difficult questions about the UK's transnational foreign and defence policy outlook vis-à-vis the United States by asserting that Afghanistan was primarily a 'national security' issue. I conclude this article by arguing that the UK's domestic strategic communication approach of emphasising 'national security interests' may have created the conditions for institutionalised confusion by reinforcing a narrow, self-interested narrative of Britain's role in the world that runs counter to its ongoing, 'transnationalised' commitments to collective security through the United States and NATO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's departure from the European Union (EU) represents a major shift in the diplomatic strategy of one of Europe's leading economic, diplomatic and security players. This article limits its focus to the UK's European diplomatic strategy. The article argues that the UK's future relationship with the EU will condition the UK's broader diplomatic approach to Europe. But in exiting the EU the ambitions and modalities of the UK's other bilateral and multilateral relationships in Europe will undergo a recalibration. With the UK government having struggled since June 2016 to provide comprehensive detail on its ambitions for its future economic, political and security relationship with the EU, the development of the broader aspects of the UK's post-Brexit European diplomatic strategy has been retarded. However, through analysis of key speeches, government white papers, and other supporting documents and statements (and the experience of negotiating Brexit with the EU27), the outlines of a nascent post-Brexit UK European diplomatic strategy can be discerned. Whether this strategy will be adequate to provide the UK with a significant degree of influence on Europe's international relations and whether it gives the UK sufficient ability to addresses the key challenges that it will face in Europe is less certain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article explores the evolution of international bonds between Middlesbrough in the northeast of England and North Korea arising from the participation of the North Korean men's football team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Shedding new light on the origins of this example of sporting diplomacy, this research seeks to understand the dynamics of international relations enacted at a local level and highlights the role of key individuals and institutions in facilitating this connection between the town and North Korea into the twenty-first century. Design, Methodology, Approach: Beginning with an assessment of early interactions between Middlesbrough and North Korea, this paper analyzes the way in which the relationship has been articulated and developed across several decades. Drawing upon local authority archives, historic newspaper collections, oral history and private collections, this study brings together hitherto underexplored resources, including North Korean diplomatic correspondence and interviews with the footballers of 1966, to deconstruct the multilayered mechanisms, meanings and motivations that underpin the Middlesbrough-Pyongyang relationship. Findings: Focusing chiefly on the role of British agency in North Korea-UK interactions, this research reveals the combination of local sporting conditions, international relations and individual and institution engagement in constructing bonds between Middlesbrough and North Korea since 1966. In doing so, the article draws out some of the peculiar local, economic and political factors that have shaped and nurtured the sporting, pseudodiplomatic connections between Pyongyang and Teesside. Practical Implications: This study highlights the important role that sport can play in harnessing new international interactions and understandings between peoples from different cultural and political systems. The power of football and bonds created at a local level (in this case Middlesbrough) to help nurture international diplomatic relations and embrace common transnational interests is also considered, as are the limitations of what might be considered a strand or extension of sports diplomacy. Originality, Value: Expanding beyond the existing literature on sports diplomacy, mega events and official interactions between North Korea and the UK, this article utilizes hitherto unpublished historical documentation and new oral testimony to bring a new perspective on the benefits and challenges posed by interactions across international borders facilitated by sport, both at the FIFA World Cup in 1966 and in recent decades. [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 November 2010, the then British Foreign Secretary William Hague delivered Canning House's annual lecture on the topic of Britain's relations with Latin America. In launching the so-called 'Canning Agenda', Hague pledged to 'halt the decline in Britain's diplomatic presence in Latin America'. 'It is now time', Hague went on, 'for an advance to begin'. This article represents the first scholarly analysis of this policy. In particular, it assesses British efforts to enhance its economic ties with the countries of Latin America; the status granted to Latin America in Britain's strategic world-view in the post-Brexit era; the impact on Britain of other external powers in the region; and the political relationships between Britain and the countries of Latin America. The article draws on interviews with the key policy-makers involved in the Canning Agenda, including William Hague, Sir Hugo Swire, Jeremy Browne, and several other officials and diplomats from Britain and throughout Latin America. It concludes that while an identifiable effort to enhance Britain's economic and political standing in Latin America is discernible since 2010, major impediments to achieving this goal persist across the range of areas explored. [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 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.

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]

Copyright of Radovi Zavod za povijesne znanosti HAZU u Zaru is the property of Zavod za Povijesne Znanosti HAZU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper discusses how "colony" is utilized as a social category to describe New Zealand in episodes of intercultural communication between interactants from New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Data is taken from the "The Comedian's Comedian Podcast" in which Ben Hurley, a New Zealand stand-up comedian is interviewed by Stuart Goldsmith, a British stand-up comedian and podcaster. Utilizing Membership Categorization Analysis (Sacks, 1992) to investigate how this category is developed and applied, in and through social interaction, it is argued that the use of "colony" as a category by Ben Hurley constructs a particular image of New Zealand cultural identity that allows Stuart Goldsmith and the listening audience to draw inferences about this identity, in particular how New Zealanders perceive of themselves and their place in the world in relation to a colonial heritage. The findings suggest that New Zealand's colonial heritage is utilized as a category in the intercultural communication in this setting to create a shared understanding of New Zealand cultural identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While public opinion about foreign policy has been studied extensively in the United States, there is less systematic research of foreign policy opinions in other countries. Given that public opinion about international affairs affects who gets elected in democracies and then constrains the foreign policies available to leaders once elected, both comparative politics and international relations scholarship benefit from more systematic investigation of foreign policy attitudes outside the United States. Using new data, this article presents a common set of core constructs structuring both American and European attitudes about foreign policy. Surveys conducted in four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany) provide an expanded set of foreign policy-related survey items that are analysed using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM). Measurement equivalence is specifically tested and a common four-factor structure that fits the data in all four countries is found. Consequently, valid, direct comparisons of the foreign policy preferences of four world powers are made. In the process, the four-factor model confirms and expands previous work on the structure of foreign policy attitudes. The article also demonstrates the capability of ESEM in testing the dimensionality and cross-national equivalence of social science concepts. [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]

Apart from relations with its neighbours, Croatia's relations with the United Kingdom (UK) were undoubtedly its greatest international challenge since it won its independence in the early 1990s. Relations between the two countries during this period were frequently strained partly due to Zagreb's democratic shortcomings, but partly also due to competing visions of post-Cold War Southeast Europe and due to long-lasting biases rooted in Croatia's and Britain's conflicting policies during Yugoslavia's breakup and wars. Croatia's accession to the EU in 2013 offered an opportunity for the two countries to leave the burdens of their past behind, since Zagreb and London had similar preferences on a number of crucial EU policy fronts. However, Brexit changed everything. Croatia's future relations with the UK are likely to be determined by the nature of Brexit negotiations and the evolution of British policy toward the pace and direction of EU integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]