The Cameron-Clegg Coalition and Britain’s Role in the World

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 1-14

3. British Elites and Great Power Status Since 1945

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 15-68

4. The Coalition and War

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 69-107

5. The Coalition and International Law

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 109-136

6. The Coalition and International Organisations

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 137-166

7. After the Coalition

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 167-204

8. Conclusion

   • Timothy J. Oliver

   Pages 205-211

9. Back Matter

   Pages 213-215

   PDF

This is the first in-depth study of the foreign and defence policies of the Coalition, a government that saw the Conservatives restored to power for the first time since the Iraq War and the Liberal Democrats enter government for the first time. It explores the idea of Britain as a ‘Great Power’ since 1945 to show how the Coalition’s policies fitted into wider historical understandings of Britain’s role in the world. Drawing on a range of evidence from the time of the Coalition, it shows that this period was one of continued change in British foreign policy. The Coalition conducted the first strategic defence review since 1998, significantly reduced the funding allocations for defence and foreign affairs, raised overseas aid spending to record levels, engaged in overseas military action in two sovereign states (and were denied a chance to participate in another), as well as a wide array of other policies. This book argues that evaluating these events and the historical background of the Coalition is critical to understanding the current crises gripping British politics. 

• Conservatives
• Liberal Democrats
• Iraq War
• 9/11
• Contemporary history
• Overseas aid
• Brexit
• Post-war politics
• Great Power
• David Cameron
• Nick Clegg
• International relations

• Department of Politics, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

  Timothy J. Oliver

Timothy J. Oliver is a Lecturer in British Politics and Public Policy at the University of Manchester, UK. He has teaching and research experience in British foreign and defence policy, international relations, and the Liberal Democrats.

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