Patron: Rt Hon Tony Blair MP President Rt Hon Robin Cook MP

The Foreign Policy Centre Press Release

New Directions in Global Thinking

BRITAIN “MUST REVIVE THE ETHICAL FOREIGN

POLICY”
Britain must revive the “ethical foreign policy”, according to a new report from the Foreign Policy
Centre think-tank. Authors Nicholas Wheeler and Tim Dunne argue that, following the damage
done by the war on Iraq, the Government’s original commitment to multilateralism must be restored
by a clear public gesture. If Britain was to champion a treaty controlling the proliferation of small
arms – just as Canada pioneered a treaty banning landmines – its international reputation could be
improved, it would be clearly differentiated from US foreign policy.

The report provides an audit of Labour’s foreign policy since 1997. It argues that there were
progressive developments in the first Labour term – from the formation of DFID, significant
increases in overseas aid budgets, successful interventions in Sierra Leone. But participation in the
Iraq campaign could make it difficult for the Government to intervene on behalf of human rights in
the future.

Wheeler and Dunn claim that the “ethical foreign policy” outlived Robin Cook’s tenure as foreign
policy, but eventually floundered when the two principles on which it was based came into conflict.
Firstly, that Britain must play an active role in the international community by complying with its
rules and, secondly, that Britain should use its influence to protect human rights. Blair’s
justification for war, though he supported regime change on humanitarian grounds, was legally
justified due to the threat from weapons of mass destruction. The failure to find any, according to
Dunne and Wheeler, means the war was unjustified.

Published following the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington, Moral Brittania? Evaluating the
Ethical Dimension in Labour’s Foreign Policy, also argues that Britain’s gains from the special
relationship are “significantly overshadowed by the costs they have to pay in terms of damage done
to our relationship with European partners and governments and peoples outside the Western
world”

They also argue that the Blair’s foreign policy making has become dangerously isolated and
describe the FCO’s influence over policy as “marginal”. They point to the fact that there was no
discussion of British foreign policy in the Cabinet at the end of the first term and no significant
Cabinet involvement in the decision to go to war in Iraq. They express concerns about the “group-
think ” among the Prime Minister’s advisers. A less Presidential approach, they claim, would have
averted mistakes made in the run-up to war, including the French position on the Security Council.

Their audit of the government’s “ethical record” on foreign policy is broadly positive, but they
point to clear blemishes. Arms sales to Indonesia were described as a clear example of where the
government had placed "“selfish economic advantages” above “human rights concerns” because it
was “almost inconceivable that British made hardware had not been used for the systematic internal
repression of the East Timorese, they claim. The Government should have suspended the order for
hawk aircraft as soon as it came into office in 1997, they claim rather than presiding over a twenty-
fold increase in arms sales to the country.

Wheeler and Dunne round on some of the critics of the ethical foreign policy, arguing that a
pragmatic foreign policy “isn’t necessarily an unethical one” and concede that it is not possible to
be “morally consistent tat all times”. They also say that in some circumstances action to protect

For briefings, interviews or a copy of Moral Brittania?

call Rob Blackhurst on 0207 401 5355/ 0787 9423341
 Patron: Rt Hon Tony Blair MP President Rt Hon Robin Cook MP

The Foreign Policy Centre Press Release

New Directions in Global Thinking

human rights can be justified without UN backing, if it has the backing of international public
opinion or of a majority of countries in the UN General Assembly.

NOTES TO EDITORS:
1.Moral Brittania? Evaluating the Ethical Dimension in Labour’s Foreign Policy is embargoed
until Tuesday 20 March 00.01
2. Tim Dunne is Reader in International Relations at the University of Exeter. He writes on theory,
human rights and foreign policy. His latest book is edited collection of essays on 9/11 with Ken
Booth: Worlds in Collision: Terror and the Future of Global Order.
3. Nicholas J Wheeler is Reader in International Politics at the University of Wales, Aberyswyth.
He is widely published on human rights, security and intervention. His latest book is Saving
Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society.

For briefings, interviews or a copy of Moral Brittania?

call Rob Blackhurst on 0207 401 5355/ 0787 9423341