“Global Britain” and British strategic culture: from Tony Blair to the present

Abstract

The Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom in 2016 marked a turning point not only in the shaping and implementation of British foreign policy but also in the UK’s relationships with long-standing partners and allies on the European and global political stage. Importantly, the concept of “Global Britain”, which emerged as a key idea during Theresa May’s premiership, revived the question of strategic culture in the country as a coherent system of values, understanding of national interests, and a vision of the state’s place on the international stage. One of the key issues in British strategic culture is the idea of a "British crisis," which began after the end of World War II and is associated with the country’s loss of imperial status. Since then, the strategic thinking of the British elite in shaping foreign policy has been marked by uncertainty due to different views on the nation’s place on the international stage and its path of development, such as "European or Anglo-Saxon identity," "to what extent can the state delegate part of its sovereignty to intergovernmental institutions?" and "what is the role of the Commonwealth in the country’s political strategy?"The "Global Britain" concept, declared in 2021, highlighted the need to study this direction of the country’s activity as an attempt to overcome the aforementioned "crisis," to conceptualize the current foreign policy course, and to outline clear planning criteria for British strategic culture. The article focuses on exploring the idea of "global interdependence" proposed by Tony Blair after the end of the Cold War and the concept of "Global Britain" outlined in the Integrated Review in 2021 and 2023. The author examines the influence of these proposed ideas and concepts on addressing four dilemmas in British strategic culture: (i) debates over the nation’s regional positioning and its heritage as a "maritime" empire; (ii) debates on the priority of maintaining national sovereignty versus delegating some of it to international structures; (iii) issues surrounding the use of force in foreign policy; and (iv) the role of international law in the current system of relations.