Critical Analysis 1: Brian White, “British Foreign Policy: Continuity and Transformation,” in

Beasley, ed., Comparative Foreign Policy.

Due Wednesday, September 12, 2018, at the beginning of class. You must come to class for
the assignment to count.

Answer the following five questions, and number your answers. Your answers must fit on
1-2 typed, single-spaced pages total. Do not merely copy sentences from the case study text
when formulating your answers, but use your own words and/or paraphrase relevant text
portions. Answers must be written in complete English sentence form with careful
attention to correct spelling and grammar.

1. The author of the case study uses Churchill’s three circles to analyze “the major areas of
activity in Cold War British foreign policy.” What are the circles, and which major areas
are they connected to? Give an example for British activities in each area!
2. How did Prime Ministers Thatcher and Major support European integration, even though
they (and their party) were critical of it?
3. British governments used to be opposed to a “coordinated EU approach to defense” in the
1990s. Why were they opposed, and how and why did the Blair government change the
British position on European defense? How did the Blair approach to defense cooperation
compare to that of the Cameron government?
4. How did the Iraq war “undermine all three elements of Blairite foreign policy?” In other
words: How did it tarnish the idea of intervention as a moral obligation; how did it
weaken the special relationship; how did Britain fail to act as a bridge between the United
States and Europe?
5. Explain how Cameron’s decision to participate in a military intervention in Libya is both
similar and different from Blair’s decision to intervene in Iraq. Be sure to cite all
similarities and differences.