ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews Britain’s initial attitude to the war in the Balkans and examines how it increasingly began its commitment —the rise of domestic normative pressure is assessed. Britain’s response to the war in the Balkans was consistent with (neo)realist thinking. The Tory government’s hesitant attitude was regarded as socially inappropriate and was criticised for its inadequacy in responding to this humanitarian tragedy. The chapter explores why political leaders in Britain agreed on the reorganisation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization to address humanitarian contingencies. It discusses what can be inferred from studying the British case and considers the connection between normative influence and international security governance. One of the pathways the British case reveals is how normative influences are absorbed into international organisations. Even if action was genuinely required for humanitarian moral reasons, intervention gave rise to conflicts with other social claims because it put lives of soldiers in danger and generated concerns around fear of involvement.
