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CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY, ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SHRIVENHAMJeffrey Peter Bradford
POLITICAL ASPECTS OF STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING IN BRITISHDEFENCE POLICY
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY ANALYSISPH.D THESIS
 
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY, ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE SHRIVENHAM
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE MANAGEMENT AND SECURITYANALYSISPh.D. THESISAcademic Year 1996-1999Jeffrey Peter Bradford
Political aspects of strategic decision making in British defence policy
Supervisor: B J Hilton01 December 1999This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for thedegree of Doctor of philosophy
 
ABSTRACT
There are two objectives to this thesis. The central objective is to test theappropriateness of the framework devised by Allison (1968, 1971, 1972) to Britishdefence policy. The second, a by-product of the empirical research, is to consider thecontinued validity of Allison’s approach for decision making in international relations.The Allison framework is applied to a study of the strategic decision makingsurrounding the British withdrawal from East-of-Suez in the context of the processleading to the 1966 Defence Review. This study uses primary sources to examinedecision making from the 1964 general election through to its completion two yearslater.Following consideration of developments in the techniques underlying Allison’s methodthe author proposes an alternative framework – the intra-governmental decision model.This model seeks to incorporate theories on trust and reputation effects using repeatedgame theory (Grief), concepts surrounding policy implementation (Wildavsky) andalternative conceptions of rationality (Etzioni).The model is then tested using secondary source material on the British Options for Change process between 1990 and 1994. To establish the improved explanatory power of the intra-governmental decision model the author tests Allison’s three lenses againstthe same data. The new technique is then applied to a case study using primary sources.In conclusion the thesis considers issues raised and suggests further research.
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