To What Extent Was Britain S Participation In The 2003 Iraq War Determined By Tony Blair S Personal Predisposition

POLI5630: Foreign Policy: Systems, States, and Leaders

Look at the figure of Blair himself, his individual leadership, his proclivities and make a judgement on how much that stuff matters compared to other relevant factors. Other factors like new labour ideology, the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK. What about systemic-level factors? Did they matter? What’s going on in international politics at the international level that is contributing to this decision? Whether or not system level factors are important to bring in. Going from different levels of analysis. Blairs leadership was an important part of the story.

Here are some sources that need to be included:

Tim Dunne (2012). ‘Blair’s Britain and the Road to War in Iraq.’ In: Smith, Hadfield, and Dunne (eds) Foreign Policy: Theories, Actors, Cases. Oxford: Oxford UP. 419-440. (Or: Tim Dunne [2008] Britain and the Gathering Storm over Iraq, in Smith, Hadfield and Dunne eds) *I have attached this

Caroline Kennedy-Pipe and Rhiannon Vickers (2007). ‘Blowback for Britain? Blair, Bush, and the War in Iraq.’ Review of International Studies 33 (2), 205-21

Some background recommended reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jul/06/iraq-inquiry-key-points-from-the-chilcot-report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg9aEV9bcxs

I will also attach my lecture notes as it includes a lot of important point on biases and heuristics.