Reflections on economic interests in Thatcherite discourse and British foreign policy towards the Gulf Cooperation Council States: a constructivist analysis

Malik, Shahin (2003). Reflections on economic interests in Thatcherite discourse and British foreign policy towards the Gulf Cooperation Council States: a constructivist analysis. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

This thesis conducts a constructivist analysis of Thatcherite policy in order to determine the role played by material economic interests in the formation of British foreign policy towards the member States of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). In accordance with constructivist principles Thatcherism is viewed ideationally as a belief system based upon notions of economics and interests and the hypothesis states that this created a framework for approaching foreign policy, and that the nature of British foreign policy towards the GCC States during the Thatcher era was constructed by the positivist discourse of economic interests. In order to test the hypothesis, and drawing on extensive primary sources, the analysis of Thatcherite discourse is based upon two overarching perspectives, the British Government's perceptions of the economic importance of the GCC States, concentrating on oil and Britain's exports to the region, and the Government's response to the perceived threats to its economic interests, examining the consequences of the Iranian Revolution, die Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the Iran-Iraq War and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait The thesis therefore takes as its basis the constructivist principle that both ideational and material structures have a role to play in influencing foreign policy.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):