New Labour, foreign policy and NGOs.
| Author | Lownsbrough, Hannah |
| Position | Features - Non-governmental organisations - Essay |
1997 led to a transformation in the government's relationship with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on foreign policy issues, whether international development or human rights. But this closer relationship has brought pitfalls as well as perks, highlighted not only by the Iraq war, but also in smaller operational struggles to shape the relationship with government. As Labour enters into a phase of government in which its legitimacy faces far greater tests, NGOs can play a critical role in establishing the government's ability to cope with dissent.
The promise of 1997
Labour's victory in 1997 was--as Labour electoral wins often tend to be--good news for non-governmental organisations. A party that has a history of knitting civil society organisations into the fabric of its approach to government, New Labour promised to make the corridors of government welcoming to a broad cross-section of organisations whose concerns overlapped with their own. New Labour ushered in a greater mixture of players in its bid to build on its pluralist political past.
The new government was particularly good news for those organisations that focused on international issues. With a new Chancellor that made no secret of his interest in addressing global poverty, campaigners had the first signs of hope that the UK would start to occupy a leading role in combating the gross global inequalities that left the majority of the world's population facing hardship beyond the imaginations of those that made up the world's wealthy minority. Likewise, the changing international landscape arising from the end of the Cold War and the emergence of new, nationalist conflicts on the European Union's doorstep in the Balkans, highlighted the opportunities for the government to establish a new place for Britain in the wider world.
Early signs proved that optimism was justified. Robin Cook promised to bring an 'ethical dimension' to foreign policy and in his early days in post, outlined his proposals for implementing this approach. In part, this articulated the traditional aspirations of a Foreign Secretary--security and trade. But he also highlighted the UK's role in bringing about international cooperation on matters of environmental degradation, and promised 'to secure the respect of other nations for Britain's contribution to keeping the peace of the world and promoting democracy around the world' (Cook, 1997). This would include striving to make human rights a global priority, he promised.
At the same time, the Labour government re-established a place for international development at the Cabinet table by creating the Department for International Development (DfID), the long-awaited successor to the Ministry of Overseas Development, which was created during the 1964-70 Labour government, but had its ministerial status revoked after the Conservative election win in 1979. The new department would not only oversee significantly increased spending on international development, but would undertake research...
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