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foreign affairs in strategic context
Browsing All Posts filed under »Liberal Democrats«
Conservatives should not praise David Cameron, but whip him
David Cameron is a disappointment as Conservative leader. This view is prevalent throughout the Party; everyone seems to have a reason for being disappointed with the Prime Minister’s leadership. For me, it was his actions over Libya; the intervention was everything we promised we wouldn’t do. For others, it is vacillation on Europe and/or the […]
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 […]
SDSR: The Army or the Navy?
October 1, 2010
I like to think I am ‘an Army man’: it is the branch I have always indentified with, the one that I attempted to join and might try again in the future. But something worrying me from the briefings and counter-briefings of the SDSR is that the Army will be ‘saved’ from cuts because of […]
Copying America: The British Tea Party
September 18, 2010
I like freedom. I like democracy. I like choice. But as a conservative, I do not like agitation or disorder or any threats to the status quo. And as I have been trained as a historian, I cannot stand ignorance and myths taken at face value. One can imagine then that the idea of a […]
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 […]
Hague of the FCO
July 2, 2010
Speech yesterday by William Hague, the new Foreign Secretary. I’ll write about this soon, but give it a watch (Hague is a genuine orator) and share any thoughts:
Liberal Democrats and thinking strategically: a rare foray into domestic politics
July 1, 2010
I have wanted to keep clear of domestic politics in this blog, except when it mixes with foreign policy, but I just finished chatting to a friend involved in the hubbub of Westminster. We were talking about the discontent many Liberal Democrats feel towards the coalition government, and how the two main parties and their […]
Afghanistan, the Conservatives and war
June 1, 2010
Now that I’m finishing university, I have the opportunity to get back to an article I’ve been working on since last July about how the Conservative Party (in opposition and now government) views Afghanistan and waging war generally. The new Conservative government and its Liberal partners have to answer fundamental questions about British defence and […]
March 8, 2012
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