Description
How did the Government of the United Kingdom adjust foreign policy strategy after leaving the European Union? As Brexit promoted the propitious political environment to the development of new ideas, this paper looks specifically into the idea of ‘Global Britain’ in British foreign policy strategy. The ‘Global Britain’ term started to be used by Prime Minister Theresa May shortly after the European Union membership referendum, in June 2016. Literature has been written on the process of foreign policy decision-making, and policy implementation. However, where do ideas come from? There is a gap concerning how ideas emerge and arrive into the political environment and therefore influence foreign policy strategy delineation. This study considers three main process phases for foreign policy adjustment: ideational, policy building, and policy implementation. The main aim of this paper is not to analyse specifically these three phases, but to identify the connections between ideational entrepreneurs, policy architects and governmental engineers. This paper argues that this process happens at different political levels, over time. Ideas travel the British political environment between actors and structures. Linkages will be traced amongst government, parliament, parties, and think tanks. A series of elite interviews with British political actors are conducted, building an exploratory qualitative study, considering the governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
