British Foreign Policy and the National Interest

For over a decade, British foreign policy has been criticised for lacking strategic thinking. Academics describe a 'strategy gap' and note that old ideas about Britain's role in the world continue to be recycled even today. This collection aims to address this issue by re-examining the ideas of Britain's national interest and their impact on strategy, to challenge current thinking and practice in the making of foreign policy. Applying interdisciplinary approaches to British foreign policy, this volume analyses a range of issues asking: Whose interests does British foreign policy serve? Is the national interest a useful explanatory tool for foreign policy analysts? How can policymakers reconnect with this idea to devise better strategies to cope with the complex policy environment of the twenty-first century? Drawing on links between academics, policymakers and other stakeholders, it provides a practical discussion of theories on global change, globalization, ethics, and security to enliven debate about how to forge a foreign policy that advances the interests of the UK whilst also holding policy-makers and officials to account for their actions.