BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY IN THE '80s: LEADING THE WAY TO A COMMON
SENSE '90s
1. A commitment to freedom and common sense. These are the
qualities for which I believe British Foreign Policy in the '80s
will be remembered. This Government has worked hard to preserve
common sense where it existed and to instill it where it had become
obscured, while maintaining above all the individual's freedoms and rights. This commitment in all fields of policy was the fundamental platform on which we were elected ten years ago. But nowhere has it been more evident than in the field of foreign affairs, on which I
have been asked to write for "Revue des Deux Mondes".
2.
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It is sometimes difficult to perceive in retrospect why some of the more sensible developments going on in the world around us have taken so long to come about they appear so self-evidently "right". This is perhaps particularly true at the present moment, a time when events seem to be taking a turn for the better: the Russians have pulled out of Afghanistan; agreement has been reached in Angola; agreement was reached last year to bring about an end to the Gulf war. These are just some of the "right" steps which key players on
the world scene have taken in recent months.
3. So, what has the UK's role been in creating the new atmosphere in which these positive developments are taking place? What part has the UK had to play in helping common sense to break out all over
the world?
4. In order to assess this, one must begin by looking at where the UK finds itself today; what are its strengths; what is its influence. As good a place as any to start is the definition of the UK given in a recent paper by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House. Their definition was "a major state with attributes of wealth, power and historical connection which give its interests and actions weight within the international community". For the purposes of this article the only addition I would wish to make to the Chatham House definition would be the insertion of "European" somewhere in it. The fact of our Europeaness is not only