A Strike Force in Someone Else's Empire

by Tom Stevenson

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Book cover for A Strike Force in Someone Else's Empire

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In A Strike Force in Someone's Else's Empire, Tom Stevenson scrutinises the unspoken assumptions behind British foreign policy. Why did the 'Indo-Pacific tilt' become a Whitehall priority? Why is the Royal Navy sailing ships through the Taiwan Strait? Why is Britain conducting military training programmes in the Persian Gulf and ten countries from Gambia to Somalia? Why did the UK become so heavily involved in the atrocities committed in Yemen? Why has it offered consistent support for autocracies such as Egypt?

Elite descriptions of Britain's position in the world ('punching above our weight') are incongruent with reality. Part of the reason is a refusal, in most parts of society, to examine the effects of Britain's relationship with the United States and to confront the reality of the post-9/11 wars in the Middle East. The impetus for so many decisions about British foreign policy come from a desire to maintain lieutenant rank with Washington. It is one thing to station military forces around the world to maintain your empire, but quite another to do so for someone else's. Stevenson scrutinises the infrastructure of the US-centred global order, from nuclear weapons and economic sanctions to space forces, and fits the UK into the picture without the usual euphemisms.
  • ISBN10 180429148X
  • ISBN13 9781804291481
  • Publish Date 7 November 2023
  • Publish Status Forthcoming
  • Publish Country GB
  • Imprint Verso Books
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 272
  • Language English