How great is britain? power, responsibility and britain's future global role

British Journal of Politics and International Relations

Volumn 13, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 326-347

  Morris, Justin ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF HULL   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Britain; Conservative led government; Great power; Responsibility

Indexed keywords

FOREIGN POLICY; GOVERNANCE APPROACH; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL POWER; POWER RELATIONS;

UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 79959875532     PISSN: 13691481     EISSN: 1467856X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-856X.2011.00450.x     Document Type: Article

References (87)

1. Aldrich, R. J. (1998) 'British intelligence and the Anglo-American "special relationship" during the cold war', Review of International Studies, 24:3, 331-351.
2. Annan, K. (2005) In Larger Freedom: Toward Development, Security and Human Rights for All (New York: United Nations).
3. Berridge, G. R. and Young, J. W. (1988) 'What is "a great power"', Political Studies, 36:2, 224-234.
4. Bew, J. (2008) 'What is a liberal conservative foreign policy?', Standpoint, October. Available online at: (accessed 1 April 2010).
5. Blair, T. (1999) 'Doctrine of the International community' Speech given at the Economic Club, Chicago, 24 April. Available at: (accessed 10 March 2010).
6. Blair, T. (2002) 'Speech to the CII'. Available online at: (accessed 13 September 2010).
7. Blair, T. (2004) 'Speech by the prime minister to his Sedgefield constituency'. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
8. Blair, T. (2010) A Journey (London: Random House).
9. Bluth, C. (2004) 'The British road to war: Blair, Bush and the decision to invade Iraq', International Affairs, 80:5, 871-893.
10. Booth, K. and Wheeler, N. J. (2008) The Security Dilemma: Fear, Co-operation and Trust in World Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
11. Brown, C. (2004) 'Do great powers have great responsibilities? Great powers and moral agency', Global Society, 18:1, 5-19.
12. Bruthiaux, P. (2003) 'Contexts and Trends for English as a global language' in H. Tonkin and T. Reagan (eds), Language in the Twenty-First Century: selected papers of the millennial conferences of the Centre for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Co.), 9-23.
13. Bull, H. (1971) 'World order and the super powers', in C. Holbraad (ed.), Super Powers and World Order (Canberra: Australian National University Press), 140-154.
14. Bull, H. (1977) The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (Basingstoke: Macmillan).
15. Bull, H. (1980) 'The great irresponsibles? The United States, the Soviet Union, and world order', International Journal, 35:3, 437-447.
16. Butler, L. J. (2002) Britain and Empire: Adjusting to a Post-imperial World (London: I. B. Taurus).
17. Buzan, B. (2004) The United States and the Great Powers: World Politics in the Twenty-First Century (Cambridge: Polity Press).
18. Cameron, D. (2005) 'Speech to the Foreign Policy Centre'. Available at (accessed 30 March 2010).
19. Cameron, D. (2006) 'A new approach to foreign affairs-liberal conservatism'. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
20. Cameron, D. (2008) 'Democracy should be the work of patient craftsmanship'. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
21. CEBR (Centre for Economics and Business Research) (2010) 'The UK could drop out of the world's top ten economies by 2015'. See
22. Chatman House/YouGov (2010) 'British attitudes towards the UK's international priorities'. Available online at: (accessed 13 August 2010).
23. Clark, I. (1989) The Hierarchy of States: Reform and Resistance in the International Order (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
24. Clark, I. (2009) 'Toward an English School theory of hegemony', European Journal of International Relations, 15:2, 203-228.
25. Conservative Party (2010a) Invitation to Join the Government of Britain. Available online at: (accessed 14 April 2010).
26. Conservative Party (2010b) Where We Stand: Defence. Available online at: (accessed 14 April 2010).
27. Cook, R. (1997) 'British foreign policy'. Available online at: (accessed 27 October 2010).
28. Cox, M. (2010) 'Global power shifts: Power shift? Not yet', The World Today, 66:10, 20-22.
29. Dodds, K. and Elden, S. (2008) 'Thinking ahead: David Cameron, the Henry Jackson Society and British neo-conservatism', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 10:3, 347-363.
30. Dunne, T. and Wheeler, N. J. (2001) 'Blair's Britain: A force for good in the world', in M. Light and K. E. Smith (eds), Ethics and Foreign Policy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 167-184.
31. The Economist (2010a) 'Into the storm', 11 September.
32. The Economist (2010b) 'Austerity Britain's global ambitions', 21 October.
33. English, R. and Kenny, M. (2000) Rethinking British Decline (London: Macmillan).
34. Fassbender, B. (1998) UN Security Council Reform and the Right of Veto: A Constitutional Perspective (The Hague: Kluwer Law International).
35. Fox, L. (2010a) 'The Armed Forces cannot take another five years of Labour'. Available online at: (accessed 1 April 2010).
36. Fox, L. (2010b) 'The need for defence reform'. Available online at: (accessed 13 September 2010).
37. Gamble, A. (2000a) Britain in Decline: Economic Policy, Political Strategy and the British State (London: Macmillan).
38. Gamble, A. (2000b) 'Theories and explanations of British decline', in R. English and M. Kenny (eds), Rethinking British Decline (London: Macmillan), 1-22.
39. Goldsworthy, D. (1971) Colonial Issues in British Politics 1945-1961: From 'Colonial Development' to 'Wind of Change' (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
40. Goodrich, L. M. and Hambro, E. (1949) Charter of the United Nations: Commentary and Documents (Boston MA: World Peace Foundation).
41. Hague, W. (2008) 'Preventing a new age of nuclear insecurity'. Available online at: (accessed 22 April 2010).
42. Hague, W. (2009a) 'A 21st century partnership with the Commonwealth'. Available online at: (accessed 10 March 2010).
43. Hague, W. (2009b) 'The future of British foreign policy'. Available online at: (accessed 10 March 2010).
44. Hague, W. (2009c) 'Renewing and reinforcing our role in the world'. Available online at: (accessed 10 March 2010).
45. Hague, W. (2010a) 'The biggest risk for Britain is five more years of Labour'. Available online at: (accessed 10 March 2010).
46. Hague, W. (2010b) 'Britain's foreign policy in a networked world'. Available online at: (accessed 13 September 2010).
47. Hague, W. (2010c) 'Britain's prosperity in a networked world'. Available online at: (accessed 13 September 2010).
48. Hague, W. (2010d) 'Britain's values in a networked world'. Available online at: (accessed 15 September 2010).
49. Hill, C. (2010) 'British foreign policy priorities: Tough choices', The World Today, 66:4, 11-14.
50. Hurd, I. (2008) 'Myths of membership: The politics of legitimation in Security Council reform', Global Governance, 14:2, 199-217.
51. Jackson, R. (2000) The Global Covenant: Human Conduct in a World of States (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
52. Kennedy, P. (1988) The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (London: Unwin Hyman).
53. Keohane, R. O. and Nye, J. S. (1989) Power and Interdependence (Glenview IL: Foresman Scott).
54. Lijphart, A. (1999) Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries (New Haven CT: Yale University Press).
55. Little, R. and Wickham-Jones, M. (2000) New Labour's Foreign Policy: A New Moral Crusade? (Manchester: Manchester University Press).
56. Mahbubani, K. (2008) The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East (New York: Public Affairs).
57. Mearsheimer, J. J. (2001) The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W. W. Norton and Co.).
58. Miliband, D. (2009) 'Britain is still a big player'. Available online at: (accessed 13 September 2010).
59. Morris, J. and Wheeler, N. J. (2007) 'The Security Council's crisis of legitimacy and the use of force', International Politics, 44:2/3, 214-231.
60. Neville-Jones, P. (2007) 'An unquiet world'. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
61. Neville-Jones, P. (2010) 'Speech to RUSI's future defence review conference'. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
62. Niblett, R. (2010) 'Playing to its strengths: Rethinking the UK's role in a changing world', Chatham House Briefing Paper. Available online at: (accessed 13 August 2010).
63. Norrlof, C. (2010) America's Global Advantage: US Hegemony and International Co-operation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
64. Nye, J. S. (2004) Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: Public Affairs).
65. OECD (2010) 'Donor's mixed aid performance for 2010 sparks concern'. Available online at:
66. Pickering, J. (1998) Britain's Withdrawal from East of Suez: The Politics of Retrenchment (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
67. Reveron, D. (2006) 'Old allies, new friends: Intelligence sharing in the war on terror', Orbis, 50:3, 453-468.
68. Rossi, V. and Rollo, J. (2010) 'Aiming for new vigour: The UK in the global economy'. Available online at: (accessed 13 August 2010).
69. Russell, R. B. (1958) A History of the United Nations Charter: The Role of the United States 1940-1945 (Washington DC: The Brookings Institution).
70. Sanders, D. (1990) Losing an Empire, Finding a Role: British Foreign Policy since 1945 (Basingstoke: Macmillan).
71. Simpson, G. (2004) Great Powers and Outlaw States: Unequal Sovereigns in the International Legal Order (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
72. Springhall, J. (2001) Decolonization since 1945 (Basingstoke: Palgrave).
73. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1992) SIPRI Yearbook 1992: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
74. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (2002) SIPRI Yearbook 2002: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
75. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (2010) SIPRI Yearbook 2010: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
76. United Nations (1945) Documents of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, San Francisco 1945 (New York: United Nations Information Organizations).
77. United Nations (1960) Yearbook of 1960 (New York: United Nations).
78. Waltz, K. N. (1979) Theory of International Politics (New York: McGraw-Hill).
79. Wheeler, N. J. (1992) 'Pluralist and solidarist conceptions of humanitarian intervention: Bull and Vincent on humanitarian intervention', Millennium, 21:2, 463-487.
80. Wheeler, N. J. (2000) Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
81. Wheeler, N. J. and Morris, J. (2006) 'Justifying the Iraq War as a humanitarian intervention: The cure is worse than the disease', in R. Thakur and W. Sidhu (eds), The Iraq Crisis and World Order (Tokyo: United Nations University Press), 444-463.
82. Wickham-Jones, M. (2000) 'Labour's trajectory in foreign affairs: The moral crusade of a pivotal power?', in R. Little and M. Wickham-Jones (eds), New Labour's Foreign Policy: A New Moral Crusade? (Manchester: Manchester University Press), 3-32.
83. Wight, M. (1978) Power Politics (Harmondsworth: Penguin).
84. Willett, L. (2007) 'Ministry of Defence announces two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy', Royal United Service Institute. Available online at: (accessed 30 March 2010).
85. Wohlforth, W. C. (1999) 'The stability of a unipolar world', International Security, 24:1, 5-41.
86. Zakaria, F. (2008) The Post-American World (New York: W. W. Norton & Co.).
87. Zweigert, K. and Kötz, H. (1998) Introduction to Comparative Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press).