What role did the special relationship of Britain with the US, and the ethical foreign policy of Britain play, in the decision to invade Iraq?

Abstract

The 2003 Invasion of Iraq generated a lot of debate and criticism among politicians worldwide. Britain's Prime Minister, Tony Blair was a prominent personality in the events leading to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Two of the main Foreign Policy goals of Britain during Blair's administration, were the Special Relationship of Britain with the US and Britain's Ethical approach to Foreign Policy. The influence of these two Foreign Policy goals in Britain's decision to invade Iraq will be analysed in this dissertation, where the main objective is to determine how influential each Foreign Policy goal was, and in the end which Foreign Policy goal prevailed. This research is relevant as it shows how the invasion of Iraq was driven by these two Foreign Policy goals, and how at different times their importance shifted from one to the other. The fact that today the invasion of Iraq is widely regarded as a failure, in which the US acted aggressively without multilateral support and created further instability in Iraq, renders the question of why Britain decided to commit itself towards such an invasion more important. To determine which Foreign Policy goal prevailed, both the Special Relationship and Britain's Ethical approach to Foreign Policy are analysed separately in the context of the build up towards the Iraq invasion. Finally to substantiate the outcome, in the last chapter they are compared and weighed against each other to arrive at a conclusion. iv The general findings are that both these Foreign Policy goals played a critical role in Britain's decision to invade Iraq. This suggests that Britain's Foreign Policy was driven to a certain extent by both realist and idealist goals. But in the end the Special Relationship prevailed and this