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Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom (UK) is a major player in international politics, with interests throughout the world. The former British Empire, notably through its successor, the Commonwealth of Nations, links the UK with many of the world's nations in one way or another. The UK has also exported its parliamentary style government, legal and financial systems, and language throughout the world. The UK is a major Member State in the European Union (EU) and holds a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
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The United Kingdom and the United States are close military allies. The two countries share cultural similarities, as well as military research and intelligence facilities. The UK has purchased military technology from the USA such as Tomahawk cruise missiles and Trident nuclear missiles, and the US has purchased equipment from Britain (e.g. Harrier). The USA also maintains a large number of military personnel in the UK. In recent years, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the President of the United States have often been close friends, for example Tony Blair and Bill Clinton and later with George W. Bush and in the 1980s the often like-minded Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. Present British policy is that the relationship with the United States represents Britain's "most important bilateral relationship"[1].
The UK has had good relations with the rest of Europe since the Second World War. It has been a member of the European Union since 1973. Although the UK is not a Euro member, it still plays a leading role in the day to day workings of the EU. The UK has clashed with other Member States of the European Union, particularly with France and Germany, most recently over the US-led war with Iraq.
The UK has varied relationships with the countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations which originated from the British Empire. The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth and is head of 16 of its 53 member states. Those that retain the Queen as head of state are called Commonwealth Realms. The European Union generally takes precedence over the Commonwealth, and the UK has tended to side with EU countries over Commonwealth countries when disputes arise. For example, over French nuclear testing, the UK sided with France over fellow Anglosphere nations, Australia and New Zealand. Over time several countries have been suspended from the Commonwealth for various reasons. Zimbabwe was suspended because of the authoritarian rule of its President and so too was Pakistan but has since returned. Countries which become republics are still eligible for membership of the commonwealth so long as they are deemed democratic. Commonwealth nations such as Malaysia enjoyed no export duties before the UK concentrated their economic relationship with EU member states. This policy has somewhat backfired with the growth of India. British diplomats are now trying to assert this link. The U.K. has also had good relations with India for the last 60 years up to the present day.
Despite a long history of conflict from English Tudor plantation in Ireland to the Irish War of independence, the UK presently works closely with the government of the Republic of Ireland in areas concerning the peace process in Northern Ireland as well as on many security issues. In 1949 the Irish Houses of Parliament passed the Republic of Ireland Act making, the Republic of Ireland officially fully independent and thus the Republic of Ireland withdrew from the Commonwealth. Under the Ireland Act 1949 Irish citizens are treated as though they are Commonwealth citizens and not aliens for the purposes of law. Until 1998, the Republic of Ireland claimed Northern Ireland, but this was rescinded under the Belfast Agreement through an amendment of the Irish Constitution, which now states an aspiration to peaceful unity. There is an ongoing dispute that also involves Denmark and Iceland, over the status of the ocean floor surrounding Rockall however this is for the most part a trivial issue rarely makes it onto British-Irish meeting agendas.
Since World War II the UK enjoyed excellent relations with West Germany, as well as the reunited Germany. Margaret Thatcher and Helmut Kohl were two leaders who had a particularly good relationship. The UK maintains a large military personnel in Germany since World War II. Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder also enjoyed a good relationship although this was tempered by the Iraq War, where Germany aligned with France in not supporting military action against Iraq. The former German Democratic Republic, which governed East Germany until German Reunification, was a communist state with which the UK was naturally hostile towards during the Cold War. Germany and the UK are both members of the EU.
As with Germany the political position of both countries can be seen as very good, the British population engage in a lively and highly tongue-in-cheek relationship and mostly friendly rivalry with France, stemming from hundreds of years of rivalry and enmity between the two countries and perhaps epitomised by The Sun newspaper's relentless bashing of French institutions and personalities. There have been continual clashes publicly and through national newspapers over such issues as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) where France is seen as a major net recipient and in the opinion of the public, perhaps unduly so. However in important times the United Kingdom and France normally stick close together.
The UK maintains two sovereign area military bases on the island of Cyprus. The UK is also a signatory to a treaty with Greece and Turkey concerning the independence of Cyprus, the Treaty of Guarantee, which maintains that Britain is a "guarantor power" of the island's independence.
The UK was once a dominant colonial power in many countries on the continent of Africa. Nowadays the UK as lead member of the Commonwealth of Nations seeks to influence Africa through its foreign policies. Current UK disputes are with Zimbabwe over alleged human rights violations. Tony Blair has set up the Africa Commission and urged countries to end Third World Debt.
- 1946 – territorial disputes with Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, DDR, Bulgaria and others.
- 1948-1949 – Berlin Blockade - dispute with USSR over access to West Berlin
- 1950-1953 – Korean War - war with China/North Korea
- 1951-1954 – Abadan Crisis - dispute with Iran over expropriated oil assets
- 1956-1957 – Suez Crisis - armed conflict with Egypt, and dispute with most of international community
- 1958 – First Cod War - fishing dispute with Iceland
- 1962-1966 – Konfrontasi - war with Indonesia
- 1972-1973 – Second Cod War - fishing dispute with Iceland
- 1975-1976 – Third Cod War - fishing dispute with Iceland
- 1980 – with Australia over nuclear testing by the United Kingdom in lands claimed by some Aboriginal groups to be sacred.
- 1982 – Falklands War - war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands
- 1983 – dispute with the United States over its Invasion of Grenada, of which Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is the monarch.
- 1984 – dispute with Libya after a policewoman is shot dead in London by a gunman from within the Libyan embassy.
- 1988 – further dispute with Libya over the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over the Scottish town of Lockerbie
- 1991 – Gulf War with Iraq
- 1994 – dispute with the European Union, United States and Canada over the ban on exports of British meat products, UK withdraws co-operation with the EU organisation.
- 1995 – involvement in Yugoslavia (specifically Bosnia) through NATO
- 1999 – involvement in NATO bombing campaign on Kosovo
- 2001 – occupation of Afghanistan
- 2003 – occupation of Iraq, including disputes with Russia, France, and Germany
- Ireland continues to aspire to unification of the island of Ireland. While the peace process has been largely successful there remain many political parties and movements on both sides of the border who hold Irish sovereignty over the whole (i.e. Northern Ireland ) island as a continuing goal.
- Spain claims the Isthmus of Gibraltar.
- Argentina claims the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
- Mauritius claim the entire Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory, including the island of Diego Garcia used as a joint UK/US military base since the 1950s when the inhabitants were forcibly removed, Blenheim Reef, Speakers Bank and all the other features.
- Dispute over territorial waters and continental shelf rights around Rockall.
- There is a territorial claim in Antarctica, the British Antarctic Territory, which overlaps with those of Chile and Argentina, though this is suspended due to the Antarctic Treaty.
- British military history
- British Moment
- Common Travel Area
- Foreign and Commonwealth Office
- Department for International Development
- Heads of United Kingdom Missions
- Sino-British Joint Declaration
- Indo-British Joint Declaration
- British diplomatic missions
- List of diplomatic missions in the United Kingdom
- Anglo-Portuguese Alliance
 Bilateral foreign relations of the United Kingdom by country |
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