Rhiannon Vickers 
Labour Party and the World, Volume 2 [EPUB ebook] 
Labour’s Foreign Policy Since 1951

This is the second book in a unique two-volume study tracing the evolution of the Labour Party s foreign policy throughout the 20th century to the present date. This is the first comprehensive study of the history of the Labour Party s worldview and foreign policy. It argues that Labour s foreign policy perspective should be seen not as the development of a socialist foreign policy, but as an application of the ideas of liberal internationalism. Volume Two provides a critical analysis of Labour s foreign policy since 1951. It examines Labour s attempts to rethink foreign policy, focusing on intra-party debates, the problems that Labour faced when in power, and the conflicting pressures from party demands and external pressures. It examines attitudes to rearmament in the 1950s, the party s response to the Suez crisis and the Vietnam War, the bitter divisions over nuclear disarmament and the radicalisation of foreign and defence policy in the 1980s. It also examines Labour s desire to provide moral leadership to the rest of the world. The last two chapters focus on the Blair and Brown years, with Blair s response to the Kosovo crisis, to 9/11 and his role in the war on terror . Whereas Blair s approach to foreign affairs was to place emphasis on the efficacy of the use of military force, Brown s approach instead placed faith in the use of economic measures. This highly readable book provides an excellent analysis of Labour s foreign policy. It is essential reading for students of British politics, the Labour Party, and foreign policy. — .