Description
This paper examines three British foreign policy myths: the Suez myth, the Falklands War myth, and the Cold War myth. Using a discourse analysis of British newspapers and elite interviews, it considers the impact that the myths have had on popular constructions of British foreign policy events from their first telling through to the present, as well as their more direct effect on British foreign policy decision-making. From that, this paper i) demonstrates how myth can shape foreign policy perceptions and diplomatic behaviour and ii) introduces myth as a new analytical lens for studying foreign policy, opening the way for further innovative research on how different myths have shaped international relations.
