ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book assesses some of the key features of how the public has engaged with foreign and defence policy as an issue area, in terms of issue salience, party images and electoral competition. It focuses on some of the limitations of the study and identifies pertinent areas for future scholarly research. The book examines public engagement with foreign and defence policy as an issue area in British politics, assessing the salience of external and domestic issues, perceptions of the parties’ relative competence on foreign and defence policy and the importance of these issues for general elections and voting behaviour. It provides a detailed assessment of the British public’s views of Britain’s main international relationships – framed within Churchill’s interlocking three circles – in the post-war era: the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the Commonwealth and the European Union.
