chapter 24 Flashcards
how did blair try and repair the bridge of USA -> Britain -> Europe?
was at centre of efforts trying to develop european strategy following 9/11
action against Iraq 2002/3
what were cabinets ops on the Euro?
blair enthuasiastic to join as well as revert to european social chapter
brown was not and set up a list of requirements for the £’s strength pre-joining
these were stringent
how was blair described?
good relations with many
world statesman
who were blair’s particularly good relationships with?
french president
german chancellor
what areas of blair’s goals were slow?
development in africa
britain’s reluctance to join Euro
proposed new constitution for EU
climate change action
when was clinton president
1993-2001
how did clinton’s gov reflect new labour?
‘the third way’ ideals
they had demonstrated a left of centre party to be electable
when was bush president
2001-2009
how was blair and bush’s relationship?
although bush was republican and there was less in common than with clinton, still managed to have a good relationship
what is liberal interventionism
a country should intervene with another country for liberal aims
eg. supporting human rights
what was blair’s belief
liberal interventionism
what are two examples of blair’s liberal interventionism
yugoslavia
sierra leone
what happened in yugoslavia
serbian attacks on kosovo
blair convinced clinton to back military action against serbia
1999 NATO bombing campaign forced serbia to pull troops out of kosovo
SUCCESS
what happened in sierra leone
2000 - rebels in capital Freetown threatened to take over
british gov sent armed forces to evacuate foreigners
then supported UN peacekeepers to secure capital and helped bring the end of civil way in 2001
who did 9/11
Al-Qaeda
Bin Laden of Afghanistan
how was the taliban involved in 9/11
allowed al-qaeda to use country as a military base of terrorist organisation
what was the immediate response to 9/11
NATO prepared to send forces to invade afghanistan
oct plans w UK & USA to overthrow taliban and expel al-qaeda
supported by NATO & UN
what was the result of 9/11
no instant pacification so the leaders of taliban and al-qaeda escaped
from 2002 attention was on iraq which may be the reason taliban could regroup in 2006/7
what was up w saddam hussein
after first gulf war of 1990-1, SH was contained by NATO air patrols and economic sanctions. however in 2002 there were fears who would link w AQ and provide the new base
what was the other fear abt SH
that iraq may develop weapons of mass destruction
how were the fears of WMD addressed
in 2002 hussein was forced to allow weapon inspectors back to iraq
by early 2003 USA said he wasnt cooperating
how did USA react to the tensions
2003 an invasion of IRAQ was launched backed by brit, poland, italy and others.
what was said by critics abt blair as response to the invasion
critics - he knew bush would invade iraq anyway & agreed with the aim of regime change
just using UN resolutions to bring europe around
what was said by defenders abt blair as response to the invasion
he was convinced of the dangers of WMD and was correct to ensure the USA continued to be part of international world order & not retreat to unilateral action/isolationism
what is isolationism
foreign policy strategy that country does not get involved in the affairs of other countries
when was the end of the war
overthrow of saddam hussein was apr 2003
how many people protested against the Iraq war
1 million in feb london ‘stop the war’ protest
what was parliament reaction to the war
four ministers - including foreign sec robin cook resigned
what was part of the reason the war was so controversial?
no WMD evidence had been found
USA & US troops had been accused of mistreating prisoners of war
what was the accusation in may 2003?
british gov had exaggerated the threat
ultimately what had happened by 2007
very limited and partial success
short of the 2003 goals
damaged blair’s reputation
however democratic gov now in iraq rather than saddam hussein
what were the 1997 foreign policy aims
make UK leading player in europe
supply ethical content to foreign policy
make britain leading partner in world community of nations
what was the impact of the war to blair’s reputation
damaged rep of his gov within britain
made it much harder to convince the public to the need of future military intervention
by 2007 how was the UK USA relationship
strengthened but britain was still very much the junior partner as the affairs had been dominated by USA
