ENGLAND’S ANSWER: IDENTITY AND LEGITIMATION IN BRITISH FOREIGN POLICY By STUART STROME A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2014 1 © 2014 Stuart Strome 2 To my grandfather 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my mom, dad, grandparents, and entire family for supporting me through this taxing process. Thank you for being voices of encouragement through can sometimes be a discouraging undertaking. Thank you to the rest of my family for being there when I needed you most. I truly love you all! I would like to thank my professors and colleagues, who provided guidance, direction and invaluable advice during the writing process. They say you don’t get to choose your family yourself, although whoever up there chose it did a wonderful job. I’d like to thank all my colleagues and mentors who provided intellectual inspiration and encouragement. Most specifically, I’d like to thank my dissertation committee, Dan O’Neill, Ido Oren, Aida Hozic, Matthew Jacobs, and above all, my committee chair, Leann Brown. Dr. Brown was incredibly supportive throughout the process, kept me grounded and on track, and provided a shoulder to cry on when needed (which was often!) I’ve never heard of a committee chair that would regularly answer phone calls to field questions, or sometimes just to act as a sounding post with whom to flesh out ideas. You are an inspiration, and I am lucky to have you as a mentor and friend. I would like to thank my beautiful and wonderfully supportive girlfriend, without whom I would lack the inspiration to follow through on my goals. Finally, I would like to thank my close friends for all the help and support: Manu Samnotra, Jessica Peet, Koreen Alvarado, and everyone else without whom I would have caved under the pressure. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 7 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 9 The Research Question ............................................................................................ 9 The Importance of this Inquiry ................................................................................ 15 The Context - British Decline in Perspective ........................................................... 19 Summary of Chapters ............................................................................................. 24 2 THEORY AND METHODS ...................................................................................... 30 The Shortcomings of Foreign Policy Analysis ......................................................... 30 Legitimation ............................................................................................................ 37 Identity .................................................................................................................... 46 Self and Other .................................................................................................. 49 Narrative and Identity ....................................................................................... 59 Research Design .................................................................................................... 64 Method ............................................................................................................. 64 The Analytical Process ..................................................................................... 68 Data .................................................................................................................. 71 Case Selection ................................................................................................. 73 Overview of the Following Chapters ....................................................................... 77 3 SUEZ CRISIS, 1956 ............................................................................................... 80 Overview ................................................................................................................. 80 Background to the Crisis ......................................................................................... 82 Policy Options ......................................................................................................... 85 Identity Narratives ................................................................................................... 88 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 102 The Non-action Option ................................................................................... 102 The Diplomatic Options .................................................................................. 106 The Military Option ......................................................................................... 112 Alternative Narratives............................................................................................ 121 Epilogue ................................................................................................................ 127 4 THE FALKLANDS WAR, 1982 .............................................................................. 131 5 Overview ............................................................................................................... 131 Background to the Crisis ....................................................................................... 134 British Decline and the Ramifications for Identity .................................................. 139 Policy Options ....................................................................................................... 141 Identities ............................................................................................................... 144 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 157 The Non-action Option ................................................................................... 157 The Diplomatic Options .................................................................................. 163 The Military Option ......................................................................................... 171 Alternative Narratives............................................................................................ 181 Epilogue ................................................................................................................ 186 5 THE IRAQ WAR, 2003 .......................................................................................... 188 Overview ............................................................................................................... 188 Background to the Crisis ....................................................................................... 190 Policy Options ....................................................................................................... 195 Identities ............................................................................................................... 204 Analysis ................................................................................................................ 216 The Containment and UN Options ................................................................. 216 The Military Option ......................................................................................... 222 Alternative Narratives............................................................................................ 228 Epilogue ................................................................................................................ 234 6 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 237 Comparing the Cases ........................................................................................... 238 Strengthening the Research Design ..................................................................... 246 Contributions to Existing Literature ....................................................................... 250 Possibilities for Future Research .......................................................................... 255 The “Future” of Narrative in Narratives of the Future ............................................ 258 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 262 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 279 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS DPT Democratic Peace Theory FPA Foreign Policy Analysis IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency IMF International Monetary Fund IR International Relations MP Member of Parliament UK United Kingdom UNMOVIC United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission UNSC United Nations Security Council UNSCOM United Nations Special Commission US United States SCUA Suez Canal Users’ Association WMD Weapon of Mass Destruction 7 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to