Public Opinion, Legitimacy and Tony Blair's War in Iraq

ISBN-13: 9781032097121 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 228 str.

James Strong

Opis

This book aims to reinterpret, from a Foreign Policy Analysis perspective, the relationship between British public opinion and the Blair government’s decision-making in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Spis treści

Dramatis Personae

1 Introduction: Understanding a controversial war

Structure

Part One: Public opinion

2 British public influence over foreign policy

Searching for the Loch Ness Monster

A constructivist approach

3 The Iraq debate: An overview

Rallying round the flag

Pockets of support

Salience and communication

Part Two: Legitimacy

4 Understanding legitimacy

Legitimacy as a discursive construct

Studying the Blair government’s discursive legitimization efforts

Categorizing the debate

5 Threat and WMD

Judgement

Nuance

Evidence

6 Legality and the UN

Defining the UN’s role

Procedural ambiguities

Clashing timetables

7 Morality and regime change Understanding Tony Blair

Legality and morality

Regime change

8 Politics and authority

The ‘special relationship’

Blaming France

Domestic politics

Part Three: Tony Blair’s war in Iraq

9 Aftermath

Reality asserts itself

David Kelly

The 2005 General Election

10 Implications

Selling the Iraq war

A holistic approach

A two-level debate

O autorze

James Strong is a Fellow in Foreign Policy Analysis and International Relations in the Department of International Relations at the London School of Economics, UK.