It was during the course of the eighteenth century that Britain's status as a major maritime and commercial power was forged, shaping the political, economic and military policies of the nation for the next two centuries. Starting from a relatively minor role in global affairs before 1700, Britain rapidly rose to become a significant player in European affairs, and leading imperial power by 1800. In this commanding contribution to the subject, Jeremy Black draws on his extensive expertise to examine how British political culture and public debate in this period responded to, and in part shaped, this transition to an increasingly prominent role in world affairs. Rather than offering a familiar narrative of Britain's eighteenth-century foreign policy, this book instead focuses upon how this policy was debated and written about in British society. Taking as a central theme the debate over policy and the development of public culture and politics, the study explores how these were linked to developing relations with Europe and helped shape colonial strategies and expectations. It highlights how widely shared concerns about such issues as national defence, the strength of the Royal Navy and trade protection, presented little consensus in how they were to be realised and were the subject of fierce public debate. The book underlines how these kinds of issues were not considered in the abstract, but in terms of a political community that was divided over a series of key issues. By probing the problems and issues surrounding the need to define and discuss Britain's foreign policy in semi-public and public contexts, this book offers a fascinating insight into questions of perceived national interest, and how this developed and evolved over the course of the eighteenth century. This work complements the author's other studies by joining the institutional focus seen there to a wider assessment of public politics and print culture, and as such will make a central contribution to studies of eighteenth-century Britain and Europe.

Drawing on a wide range of British and foreign archival sources, this book tackles the role of Parliament in the conduct of eighteenth-century foreign policy, the impact of this policy on parliamentary politics, and the quality of parliamentary debates. It is also an important study for our assessment of eighteenth-century Britain, and also, more generally, for an understanding of the role of contingency in the assessment of political systems. Reflecting over a quarter-century of work on parliamentary sources, the book highlights the influence of Parliament, positive and negative, direct and indirect, on foreign policy and politics. It also has great contemporary relevance as we consider the effectiveness of democratic states when confronting authoritarian rivals, and the rights of representative bodies to be consulted before wars are launched.

It was during the course of the eighteenth century that Britain's status as a major maritime and commercial power was forged, shaping the political, economic and military policies of the nation for the next two centuries. Starting from a relatively minor role in global affairs before 1700, Britain rapidly rose to become a significant player in European affairs, and leading imperial power by 1800. In this commanding contribution to the subject, Jeremy Black draws on his extensive expertise to examine how British political culture and public debate in this period responded to, and in part shaped, this transition to an increasingly prominent role in world affairs. Rather than offering a familiar narrative of Britain's eighteenth-century foreign policy, this book instead focuses upon how this policy was debated and written about in British society. Taking as a central theme the debate over policy and the development of public culture and politics, the study explores how these were linked to developing relations with Europe and helped shape colonial strategies and expectations. It highlights how widely shared concerns about such issues as national defence, the strength of the Royal Navy and trade protection, presented little consensus in how they were to be realised and were the subject of fierce public debate. The book underlines how these kinds of issues were not considered in the abstract, but in terms of a political community that was divided over a series of key issues. By probing the problems and issues surrounding the need to define and discuss Britain's foreign policy in semi-public and public contexts, this book offers a fascinating insight into questions of perceived national interest, and how this developed and evolved over the course of the eighteenth century. This work complements the author's other studies by joining the institutional focus seen there to a wider assessment of public politics and print culture, and as such will make a central contribution to studies of eighteenth-century Britain and Europe.

This study provides an analysis of the major questions surrounding the debate, formulation and execution of foreign policy in the age of Walpole. It is a subject which has tended to be ignored by historians, yet it was central to the political activity of the period. as well as to historians of Parliament, Jacobitism, trade and the press. Drawing on a range of primary source material, Jeremy Black explores the substance and direction of policy, and the inevitable political wrangles. This text should be of interest to students of foreign policy, but also to historians of Parliament, Jacobitism, trade, and the press.

As the world’s only superpower, America’s foreign policy inevitably has a major impact Ð be it positive or negative - on contemporary international affairs. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, George W. Bush’s decision to move away from multilateral decision-making toward a more aggressive, pre-emptive style of foreign policy attracted widespread debate, and criticism, throughout the world. Reversing direction, the Barack Obama presidency is placing greater emphasis on constructive or peaceful engagement within multilateral frameworks, relying on special envoys to deal with some of the thorniest problems. In this book, Paul Viotti explores American foreign policy from the founding of the republic in the late 18th Century to the present day. Part 1 examines the broad policy options available to the US government: namely, peaceful engagement, containment through deterrence or coercive diplomacy, and armed intervention. Part 2 looks at the American experience in foreign policy. By exploring early precedents and elite practices, the moralism of American exceptionalism as well as the roots of an expansionist American foreign policy, the discussion draws out the continuities running from the 18th century to the present. Part 3 concludes with an analysis of the politics of interest on the Potomac with analysis of the interplay of contending policy elites, factions and parties influencing foreign policy making today. Assessing alternatives, the author concludes that even though containment and armed intervention will remain part of the way the United States conducts its foreign policy, diplomatic engagement options are the most promising course of action for the coming decades.

The Politics of Fashion in Eighteenth-Century America