英语概况英语国家资料Unit8

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2023年12月25日发(作者：)

英语概况英语国家资料Unit8

Unit 8

British Foreign Relation

Britain Then and Now

a lengthy fight with the Axis powers, the United

Kingdom eventually

emerged victorious and with its empire still largely intact.

When the war ended, Britain was the largest military power

in Western Europe. It power and prestige ensured it would have

a big influence on the postwar international order.

2. Britain was active in setting up at the United Nations and,

in recognition of

its continuing importance to world politics it was awarded a

seat on the UN security Council, along with the other recognised

“great powers” of the

Soviet Union, the United States, China and France.

3. the age of imperialism was over too.

On one hand, the British could no longer afford to maintain

its empire, it had paid a terrible price in terms of lives and in terms

of economic

destruction.

On the other hand, the British realised that countries should

be granted the independence and left to run their own affairs.

4. The end of the great British empire was surprisingly rapid.

Jordan, India,

Pakistan, Burma, Ceylon got their independence one after

another.

5. Today’s Britain

A medium-sized European country. Britain no longer rules a

vast

overseas empire, but participates as an equal member in the

EU. It lacks the all-powerful navy of its imperial past, but it does

have an independent nuclear deterrent and technologically

advanced armed forces. British

economy ranks about sixth in the world in terms of size, and

as a banking centre, it retains considerable influence on the

international economy.

The Foundations of Britain’s Foreign Policy

The contemporary foreign policy of the UK is greatly

influenced by its imperial history and also by its geopolitical traits.

1. Perhaps the most important single factor which influences

British

policy-makers is its history.

Because Britain lost its empire so recently, British policy-makers

frequently forget that Britain is not as influential as it used to

be in world affairs. Historians argue that the British foreign

policy-makers retain very conservative and traditional views of

Britain’s role as a world power and point to many major foreign

policy decisions as examples.

2. A second decisive influence upon the way Britain conducts

its external

affairs is geopolitical.

Britain is an island state, and this is considered an important

psychological factor as well as one which has influenced

Britain’s

economic and military development.

3. Britain’s island location created a sense of psychological

isolation in

its inhabitants.

When Britons wanted to go abroad, they could not just walk

across a

border: they had to get into a boat and sail often for a long

time. this

physical isolation had long been diminished by the

development of

airlines and more recently by the opening of the Channel

Tunnel.

Nevertheless, psychologically, Britons still sometimes feel cut

off.

How Foreign Policy is Made

The Prime Minister and Cabinet decide on the general

direction of Britain’s foreign policy. The main government

department invol ved is of course the Foreign and

Commonwealth Office (FCO), but many other

government ministers also play a part in formulating and

executing the

government’s decisions.

The Ministry of Defence, although it is considered less

important than the FCO, is a n important player. It is responsible

for ensuring Britain’s defence and managing Britain’s

involvement in its military treaty commitments.

The Department of Trade and Industry is concerned with

formulating international trade policy and managing British

commercial relations with other countries.

The Treasury makes decisions on how much money other

departments can have each year.

Since Britain is parliamentary democracy, the government’s

foreign policy in theory represents the desires of its electorate,

but in fact British citizens are more concerned about issues closer

to home.

On the whole, they are not very inclined to try to influence

the direction of Britain’s foreign policy. There are a number of

different interest groups

however, and it is interesting that the rare occurrences of civil

disobedience in the UK often involve foreign policy issues.

Britain and International Institutions

In the past, Britain was powerful enough to act

independently in the world in order to bring about its policy

objectives. Nowadays its foreign policy is

largely shaped by its participation in a number of important

international institutions.

In the UN

Britain is one of the five permanent members of the United

Nations Security Council. It also is the sixth largest contributor to

the UN’s budget. As a

Security Council member, Britain retains the ability to have a

large influence on world affairs.

In the EU

More important to Britain in the day to day running of its

affairs is its membership in the EU.

The EU has its roots in the experience of the two world wars

which tore Europe apatrt in the first half of this century. Some of

the countries involved decided that they should work together to

ensure peace rather than against each other which seemed to

lead to war.

European states began to integrate their economies as a way

of fostering cooperation and shared interests with each other,

and this paved the way for the formation of the European

Economic Community, a common market. In 1973, the United

Kingdom joined the EEC.

1. This was an important psychological decision for the

nation

because traditionally Britain had looked beyond its European

neighbours, feeling that really it had more common with the US

and the

Commonwealth.

2. in fact, the decision to join the EEC was a natural one given

that

British economic, political and military interests were already

deeply

bound up with other European countries.

3. The decision to join the EEC was very controversial; and

today,

Britain’s participation in the EU, as it is now called, remained

controversial.

At the centre of the controversy is the fact that it is not clear

what the

EU is and what it will become. The UK has always been very

interested in encouraging free trade between countries and

is

therefore very supportive of the EU as a free area.

However, the UK has always been less enthusiastic about

giving up its national sovereignty to a European government.

The UK likes to think of the EU as a place where economic

cooperation is possible, with the free movement of goods and

people. It is less certain about the possibility of the EU becoming

a kind of federal “super state”.

In other words, while Britons are happy to have other

European countries

as trading partners, they are reluctant to think about them as

fellow

citizens belonging to the same state.

Because of the many controversies that Britain gets into with

its European neighbours about the future of the EU, looking from

outside it seems that Britain is a “bad” European state which is

not really committed to E urope.

This is not true any more than the idea of joining the EU

represented

Britain’s “turning its back” on old friends and

commitments.

Britain, while often at the centre of policy controversies with

its fellow EU members, is nevertheless deeply committed to it.

The controversies are borne of disagreements on what the future

of the EU should be, rather than abut whether Britain should be

a member or not. Britain frequently fights over what the policies

should be, but, having agreed, carries these polices out.

In the Commonwealth

Britain is also a member of the Commonwealth, a voluntary

association of states which is made up mostly of former British

colonies. There are 50 members of the Commonwealth. It was set

up as forum for continued

cooperation and as a sort of support network.

In addition to holding conferences and meetings, the

Commonwealth provides educational and technical help. Two-thirds of British development aid goes to Commonwealth

countries.

Britain and the United States

Another major factor which influences British foreign policy

is its relationship with the United States.

Nevertheless, the “special relationship” with the United

States has gone through ups and downs. The major test of Anglo-American relations

occurred during the 1956 Suez Crisis.

To British surprise, the Americans used the economic power

to force the Anglo-French forces withdraw. Since then, both sides

have worked hard to maintain good relations.

British Security and Defence Policy

Britain spends more on defence than most other advanced

industrial countries and maintains larger professional forces. It is

the third largest spender in the world and is ranked fifth or sixth

in terms of its military power.

It is a member of the nuclear “club”, maintaining an

extensive n uclear

capability which makes it a little brother to the nuclear

superpowers and therefore more powerful than those countries

who lack nuclear weapons.

The keystone of British defence policy is its participation in

the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, more commonly known

as NATO.

Britain was proud of be invited to lead the newly established

Rapid Reaction Corps, NATO’s recently established land-based

force which is designed to provide an early military response to

a crisis.

In addition to its NATO commitments, Britain retains an

independent nuclear weapons capability. Since Britain is a

traditional sea power, it is perhaps no surprise that its nuclear

force is a naval one.

It is highly unlikely that Britain would ever use, or need to

use, its nuclear capability and there are many Britons who feel it

is unsafe and unnecessary to rely on nuclear weapons. But

nuclear weapons are important for the prestige of a country as

well as its protection.

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