Conclusions

Abstract

Given that each of the preceding chapters ended with a ‘summary and conclusions’ section, this chapter does not provide a summary statement of the major developments in Britain’s postwar external policy. It does, however, seek to review the main substantive and theoretical arguments that have been advanced in previous chapters. The first section re-examines the problem of ‘overextension’, the notion that, notwithstanding imperial withdrawl, Britain’s foreign policy strategy — and especially its defence policy — remained fundamentally overextended throughout most of the postwar period. The second section examines the changing nature of the role that Britain has played in international affairs in the postwar era and offers some speculations as to how that role might develop in the future.