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McKittrick

Neil McKittrick
 nmckittrick01@qub.ac.uk

Research

Going to War: The UK decision to intervene in Iraq in 2003

The aim of this study is to explain the UK decision to intervene in Iraq and the extent to which it was a decision propagated by the structure of the international system or determined by the agents who are responsible for British Foreign Policy.

The study will undertake a theoretical and empirical investigation, with the debate framed on the tension between a structural or agent-based explanation.

A structural explanation will proceed from the hypothesis that the UK decision to intervene was as a result of the constraints of the “special relationship” with the United States - and will centre on issues of survival, security and projecting UK influence on the world stage.

An agent-based explanation will stem from evidence that the agents responsible for UK foreign policy made a conscious decision to go to war on their own criteria.  This was reflective of British goals and not determined by the constraints of the international political system.  The dominance and conviction of Tony Blair and the war being an extension of ongoing British policy will provide support to such a view.

These two possible explanations provide a framework for the research, but the investigation remains open to uncovering other explanations for the UK intervention in Iraq.

Supervisors:  Dr Ralph Dietl and Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards