Ismi Rahmawati

1930911020
KSBI 1 (Summary)

International relations
The effects of global economic competition, two World Wars, the emergence of Cold War
politics (dominated by the USA and the former Soviet Union) and domestic economic and
social problems forced Britain to recognize its reduced international status.

Foreign and defence policy

Foreign and defence policy Britain’s international position today is that of a medium-sized
country which ranks economically behind Germany, the USA and Japan. Nevertheless,
Britain’s foreign and defence policies still reflect its traditional position as a major trading
nation, the world’s fourth largest economy and a global finance centre. Britain is therefore
dependent upon maintaining global commercial connections, although it is increasingly
committed to Europe, where EU countries are Britain’s biggest export and import markets.
Britain’s foreign policy and membership of international organizations is based on the principle
that overseas objectives can be best attained by persuasion and co-operation with other nations
on a regional or global basis.
The USA has been Britain’s closest ally in recent years; it is often considered, rightly or
wrongly, that a ‘special relationship’ exists between the two; and a majority of Americans
regard Britain as a close ally of the USA. The USA sees Britain partly as a bridge to Europe
while Britain wants to maintain the Atlantic connection in its own bargaining with EU
countries.
However, a MORI poll in November 2001 showed that British people feel the USA is now
of relatively less importance to Britain than Europe is: 53 per cent of respondents thought that
Britain’s closest relationship should be with Europe (36 per cent for the USA). But, although
the EU is moving to more unified policies, member states have conflicting interests and Britain
follows its own policy when necessary. Its defence policy is based on NATO strategies and it
assigns most of its armed forces and defence budget to the organization. Despite changes in
Eastern Europe since 1989 and moves to transform NATO into a more flexible military
association, the British government has taken such developments cautiously and is concerned
to maintain its own military defence with both conventional and nuclear forces. The primary
objectives of defence policy are to ensure the country’s security and the NATO commitment
and to allow British forces to engage in high-intensity war as well as in peacekeeping roles.
Reserve and volunteer forces, such as the Territorial Army (TA), support the regular forces,
reinforce NATO ground troops and help to maintain security in Britain.
Empire and Commonwealth
The Empire developed into the British Empire and Commonwealth in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries when Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa became
self-governing dominions and achieved independence. In the mid twentieth century, the British
Empire and Commonwealth became the British Commonwealth as British governments
granted independence to other colonies.
The British Commonwealth then developed into the Commonwealth of Nations, as most of
the remaining colonies became independent. The Prime Ministers, or heads of state, in
Commonwealth countries meet every two years under the auspices of the monarch for
Commonwealth Conferences in different parts of the world. There is a Commonwealth
Secretariat in London which co-ordinates policy for the Commonwealth, in addition to many
Commonwealth societies, institutes, libraries, professional associations and university
exchange programmes. Commonwealth citizens still travel to Britain as immigrants, students
and visitors, while British emigration to Commonwealth countries continues in reduced
numbers. There is no longer the traditional sense of Commonwealth solidarity and purpose,
and Britain has little in common with some Commonwealth nations.
Britain had preferential trading arrangements with the Commonwealth before it joined the
European Union in 1973 and the Commonwealth question formed part of the debate on
membership.

The European Union (EU)

The ideal of a united Europe, strong in economic and political institutions, became
increasingly attractive to European statesmen after the Second World War. Europe after the
destruction of two World Wars and after centuries of antagonism and mutual distrust between
the European powers. The foundations for a more integrated Europe were established in 1957
when six countries signed the Treaty of Rome and formed the European Economic Community.
Britain did not join, but instead helped to create the European Free Trade Association in 1959.
Britain distanced itself from closer European connections in the 1950s and saw its future in the
trading patterns of the Commonwealth and an assumed ‘special relationship’ with the USA.
But attempts by Britain to join the EEC were vetoed by the French President, Charles de Gaulle.
Britain, together with Denmark and the Irish Republic, formally joined the EEC on 1 January
1973, having left EFTA in 1972. Today, 59 per cent of British exports go to the EU and Britain
receives 54 per cent of its imports from EU countries. The institutions involved in the running
of the EU are the European Council, Council of Ministers, European Commission, European
Parliament and European Court of Justice. British membership of the EU is difficult. The
Labour government wants a Europe of nation states in which Britain can play a central role and
is against the concept of a ‘superstate’. Its policy is wait and prepare, waiting until Britain’s
economy is in line with other members, seeing how the currency develops and putting the issue
to a referendum.

Irish Republic and Northern Ireland

 Northern Ireland (also known as ‘the six counties’, or Ulster after the ancient kingdom in
the north-east of the island) is constitutionally a part of the United Kingdom. But its (and
British) history is inseparable from that of the Republic of Ireland (Ireland or Eire).
Historically, mainland Britain has been unable to accommodate itself successfully to its next-
door neighbours. During the twentieth century, as Britain has detached itself from empire and
entered the European Union, its relationship with Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic was
problematic. But the latter is now more closely involved politically with the UK as a result of
the 1998 Good Friday Agreement on Northern Ireland and later legislation.
A basic knowledge of the island’s long and troubled history is essential in order to
understand the current role of the Irish Republic and the actual situation in Northern Ireland
itself, for any solution to the problems there cannot be simplistic. Ireland was first controlled
by England in the twelfth century. Since then there have been continuous rebellions by the
native Irish against English colonial, political and military rule. The situation worsened in the
sixteenth century, when Catholic Ireland refused to accept the Protestant Reformation, despite
much religious persecution. The two seeds of future hatred, colonialism and religion, were thus
early sown in Irish history. A hundred years later, Oliver Cromwell crushed rebellions in
Ireland and continued the earlier ‘plantation policy’, by which English and Scottish settlers
were given land and rights over the native Irish. These colonists also served as a police force
to put down any Irish revolts. The descendants of the Protestant settlers became a powerful
political minority in Ireland as a whole and a majority in Ulster. In 1690, the Protestant William
III (William of Orange) crushed Catholic uprisings at the Battle of the Boyne and secured
Protestant dominance in Northern Ireland. Ireland was then mainly an agricultural country,
dependent upon its farming produce. But crop failures were frequent, and famine in the middle
of the nineteenth century caused death and emigration, with the result that the population was
reduced by a half by 1901. The people who remained demanded more autonomy over their
own affairs. Irish MPs in the Westminster Parliament called persistently for ‘home rule’ for
Ireland (control of internal matters by the Irish through an assembly in Dublin). The home rule
question dominated late nineteenth- and early twentiethcentury British politics. It led to
periodic outbreaks of violence as the Northern Irish Protestant majority feared that an
independent and united Ireland would be dominated by the Catholics.
Eventually in 1921–22 Ireland was divided (or partitioned) into two parts as a result of
uprisings, violence and eventual political agreement. This attempted solution of the historical
problems has been at the root of troubles ever since. The twenty-six counties of southern Ireland
became the Irish Free State and a dominion in the Commonwealth. This later developed into
the Republic of Ireland (Eire), remained neutral in the Second World War and left the
Commonwealth in 1949.