British foreign and defence policy

This chapter outlines some of the specific and the more structural challenges that British foreign and defence policies will face during the decade to come. The conditions of the Cold War exaggerated Britain’s foreign and defence policy strengths; those of the post-Cold war have exaggerated its corresponding weaknesses. The controversy over the use of components made by the giant Chinese company Huawei in Britain’s 5G broadband network is a telling example of the complexity of foreign policy decisions in a globalised world. A dimension in which Britain’s international profile shows both continuity and change is in the economic face it shows to the world. It is important, therefore, to consider the future challenges that Britain is likely to face in world politics over the coming decade. The transition from being a ‘pillar’ to a ‘player’ in the international system – albeit quite an influential one – was still based around Britain’s key relationship with the United States.