New Labour Foreign Policy

What did Blair call for Britain to develop?

a new, more positive relationship with its European partners

How were Blair’s relationships with other European leaders during his 10 years as PM?

they were very good

What was Blair enthusiastic about Britain joining?

the European currency, the Euro

How did Brown feel about Britain joining the Euro, what did he do?

he was not keen and set up a number of economic conditions that had to be met before this, preventing it

What did Blair take the lead in?

European initiatives issued, such as climate change, world trade and reforming aid to Africa

Britain was at the centre of efforts to what?

develop a common European strategy against the threat of global terrorism (after 9/11)

Which two places did Blair want to make Britain a bridge between?

US and Europe (through the action in Iraq in 2002 and 2003)

What caused difficult challenges for British foreign policy?

the rapid enlargement of the EU, which changed its methods of reaching decisions

Who was playing a more prominent part in the economy?

states of ‘New Europe’ (former Communist states of the USSR)

Were there many concrete achievements for Britain in Europe?

not really, progress on climate change and aid in Africa were frustratingly low

What did attempts to reform the workings of the EU result in?

the rejection of a proposed new constitution

When Blair was elected, where was there similarities between?

Clinton and Blair’s governments

Why was Blair convinced that it was essential to keep the US involved in European affairs?

after the failure of the European Union to deal with the Yugoslavian Crisis of the 1990s

What area did Blair and Clinton really form a strong working relationship about?

meeting the threat of terrorism

What were there accusations of for foreign policy?

that it became too dominated by US priorities

What was the defining issue of Blair’s political career by 2007?

the war in Iraq

What made Britain’s position in the world decline?

Blair’s idea of liberal interventionism was discredited and it would be harder for a British government to convince the public of the need for military intervention in the future

Why was Britain not seen as independent?

due to the close relationship with the US, making us not seem like a fair judge

How did the national press feel about Europe?

they remained very hostile to all things Europe

What did Blair firmly believe in to prevent the recurrance of massacres?

liberal interventionism

During the final phase of the Balkan Wars, what did Blair devote most of his diplomatic efforts to?

persuading a reluctant Clinton to back military action against Serbia

What was an early success for Blair with Serbia?

after a prolonged NATO bombing campaign against Serbia, they were forced to pull their forces out of Kosovo

What military intervention began after the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on the US?

the war on terror

What began almost immidietely after 9/11?

preparations for NATO forces to invade Afghanistan (where the Taliban allowed Al-Qaeda to use the country for training)

What did Britain join on 7th October 2001? What were the aims of this?

the US in a military campaign to overthrow the Talin and expel Al-Qaeda for Afghanistan (hoped a ‘new Afghanistan’ would form)

What were there fears of for Iraq?

that they would link up with Al-Qaeda and provide a new base for terrorism, or that Iraq may develop weapons of mass destruction

What did Blair make strenuous efforts to push?

a second UN resolution (to force Saddam Hussein to allow weapon inspectors back to Iraq)-however this was unsuccessful

What was launched by US forces (and Britain got involved) in 2003?

the invasion of Iraq

Who did Blair get involved in the invasion of Iraq?

Europe, leading to its success

How was the invasion of Iraq successful?

military victory was complete in 2003

How was the invasion of Iraq unsuccessful?

it was controversial-a ‘Stop the War’ march in London attracted more than a million people and British and US troops were accused of mistreating Iraqi prisoners of war