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foreign affairs in strategic context
Browsing All Posts filed under »Germany«
Has David Cameron re-nationalised the national interest?
One of my bugbears is what I call the ‘internationalisation of the national interest’. It is the belief that the world has become so globalised and interconnected that every crisis is a threat to our health and well-being and that it is vital we are involved in sorting it out. The result of such a […]
Why Britain is not isolated in Europe
December 13, 2011
Since the European Summit on Friday, when David Cameron blocked an EU-wide treaty, many in the media have talked a lot of balls about the United Kingdom and “isolation”. Those who have criticised the Prime Minister, (who, funnily enough, have mostly been Europhiles), have bemoaned our lack of “influence” in Europe. If one follows the […]
David Cameron and the European crisis: some hard truths
December 9, 2011
I woke up this morning to discover history had been made, or so I was told. Europe and the United Kingdom have parted ways. At a summit in Brussels this morning, David Cameron had used our veto for the first time to stop a ruinous financial transaction tax, but he has also isolated the country […]
Where is the Special Relationship going?
May 24, 2011
President Obama begins his state visit to the United Kingdom today, so, understandably, there has been a lot of focus on the Special Relationship; much of it typically pessimistic. I haven’t helped with my latest piece for Egremont criticising the new US-UK National Security Board (NSB). The board is supposed to keep officials on each […]
The risk of a Dolchstosslegende after Libya
March 16, 2011
Whenever arguing about intervention in Libya, I always ask interventionists how militarily viable the rebels were in the first place. I felt the answer was important because if the rebels were a lame horse from the start of the race, which seems to have been the case, then whatever equipment we sent them might fall […]
A peace to end all peace
January 3, 2011
The historian Margaret MacMillan wrote an interesting op-ed for The New York Times the other week, about reparations and the First World War. I stopped reading after a few paragraphs because it sounded like a load of balls, but I went back to it and the article has its merits. The thing I objected to […]
The real Anglo-French defence treaty
November 2, 2010
Thinking Strategically has only been going for five months now but I’ve managed to secure something of a coup: getting hold of the real (i.e. secret) Anglo-French defence treaty signed today. Its contents are dynamite… Nuclear weapons: ‘Our governments will continue to maintain publicly that we both possess a nuclear deterrent and delay publication by […]
Ellis and Rauscher on Europe
October 17, 2010
I shouldn’t argue with Xavier Rauscher as I’m expecting him to write something for the blog, but we all have to do what we feel is right in our hearts. Today, we have been arguing about Europe. Like most of the world, I tend to treat the European Union with contemptuous indifference; like any Frenchman, […]
Conservatives and the threat from Germany 1902-1914
September 13, 2010
This is the first part in my series looking at the British Conservative Party and the First World War. The topic brings together many interests of mine from international relations in the early 20th Century to the ‘strategic culture’ of the Party and the nexus of foreign policy and domestic politics. My dissertation examined it […]
Joe Chamberlain, bitch!
September 12, 2010
I’m sure the whole two people interested in early 20th Century British politics and international relations cannot wait for my first post on the Conservatives and the First World War, but I thought I’d put this video up as a teaser. Joe Chamberlain, bitch!
Sean Trend: Tourism and strategy in the Cold War
July 24, 2010
A guest post by Sean Trend looking at the co-opting of tourism for strategic purposes during the Cold War by the West.
December 16, 2011
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