The Continental Commitment

Howard traces the themes of imperial defense, home defense, and the maintenance of a balance of power trough the whole era of the two world wars. He shows how many important events reflected this dilemma of British defense policy and makes a complex story brilliantly clear.

Recent debates about British political and military strategies, derived in particular from dissension about Britain’s relationship with Europe and from disagreement over the Iraq war, has led to a greater awareness of the problematic nature of the concept of ‘national interests’. This major new work delivers a long view of this issue, its twin strands are captured by an assessment both of the Continental commitment and British interventionism in the 18th Century. The extent to which Britain’s rise to superpower status in America and Asia was related to the Continental connection, and her Hanoverian interests, is a central theme of this study, as is the relationship between the domestic position of the Crown and its interests as Electors of Hanover. The issue of Continental interventionism opens up the question of how alliances generate their own pressures, at the same time that they are supposed to help overcome challenges; while also indicating how the domestic support for alliances shifts, creating its own dynamics that in turn affect the international dimension. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, British foreign policy, British history and war and conflict studies.

Recent debates about British political and military strategies, derived in particular from dissension about Britain’s relationship with Europe and from disagreement over the Iraq war, has led to a greater awareness of the problematic nature of the concept of ‘national interests’. This major new work delivers a long view of this issue, its twin strands are captured by an assessment both of the Continental commitment and British interventionism in the 18th Century. The extent to which Britain’s rise to superpower status in America and Asia was related to the Continental connection, and her Hanoverian interests, is a central theme of this study, as is the relationship between the domestic position of the Crown and its interests as Electors of Hanover. The issue of Continental interventionism opens up the question of how alliances generate their own pressures, at the same time that they are supposed to help overcome challenges; while also indicating how the domestic support for alliances shifts, creating its own dynamics that in turn affect the international dimension. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, British foreign policy, British history and war and conflict studies.

A broad-ranging study of the relationship between alliances and the conduct of grand strategy, examined through historical case studies.

This book looks at the ways African borders impact war and conflict, as well as the ways continental integration could contribute towards cooperation, peace and well-being in Africa. African borders or borderlands can be a source of problems and opportunity. There is often a historical, geospatial and geopolitical architecture rooted in trajectories of war, conflict and instability, which could be transformed into those of peace, regional and continental integration and development. An example is the cross-border and regional response to the Boko Haram insurgency in West Africa. This book engages with cross-border forms of cooperation and opportunity in Africa. It considers initiatives and innovations which can be put in place or are already being employed on the ground, within the current regional and continental integration projects. Another important element is that of cross-border informality, which similarly provides a ready resource that, if properly harnessed and regulated, could unleash the development potential of African borders and borderlands. Students and scholars within Geography, International Relations and Border Studies will find this book useful. It will also benefit civil society practitioners, policymakers and activists in the NGO sector interested in issues such as migration, social cohesion, citizenship and local development.