Ivanov D. Features of formation of the foreign policy of the British governments (1990–2010)

The relevance of the topic of this research is determined by the need of the in-depth analysis of the United Kingdom foreign policy formation and development which reflected its role as an important actor of the post-bipolar world. The UK is one of the oldest democracies of the world. The Westminster system of government allowed the British citizens to protect their interests and contributed to the rise of Great Britain into a global superpower in the 19th century. The achievement of a political consensus on foreign policy matters is regarded as the result of an informal agreement between political groups representing the interests of voters. United Kingdom’s influence had declined in the 20th century as a result of the global changes. Great Britain had yielded military and economic leadership to the United States of America. The United Kingdom had adapted to the Yalta-Potsdam system of international relations and remained a major world power and significant US ally in NATO. United Kingdom is a major economic, technologic and cultural power of the postindustrial age. Great Britain played an active role in international relations. The British establishment had an active internal debate on the topics of eurointegration and security cooperation. The topic of the scientific research is organically connected with the problem of the formation of the foreign policy of the EU and NATO countries in the postbipolar period. The United Kingdom, as one of the leading states of the West, played significant part in shaping the foreign policy positions of NATO and EU, correlating its interests with other countries of the Euroatlantic community. The study of the peculiarities of the formation of British foreign policy allows better understanding of the context of the formation and implementation of the foreign policy course of European countries within the framework of the Euroatlantic system of collective security. The dissertation, for the first time in Ukrainian historiography, characterized evolution of the foreign policy doctrines of British political parties on basis of examination of the new documents (political manifestos of the British political parties). The important topics of British foreign policy discourse and its interpretation by the British establishment were analyzed. The author researched the position of the British political parties on the topic of military intervention in the regional conflicts. The British policy on the developing countries was also considered. The research of the specifics of the formation of British foreign policy has considerable academic and theoretical significance that improves understanding of the global processes that occur in the system of international relations.