Still a ‘Force for Good’? Good International Citizenship in British Foreign and Security Policy
| Published date | 01 February 2015 |
| Author | Jonathan Gilmore |
| DOI | 10.1111/1467-856X.12032 |
| Date | 01 February 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Still a ‘Force for Good’? Good
International Citizenship in British
Foreign and Security Policy
Jonathan Gilmore
Research Highlights and Abstract
• Through an analysis of recent foreign policy discourse, in particular the UK approach
to stabilisation, the article identifies distinctive similarities and continuities in the
patterns of ethically-minded foreign policy, employed by the 1997–2010 Labour
government and the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition.
• The article makes a fresh engagement with the concept of Good International
Citizenship, arguing for a much more overt engagement, by policymakers, with
the concept, to help address some of the shortcomings associated with both Labour
and the Coalition’s attempts to incorporate ethical obligations into British foreign
policy.
This article examines the interaction between the idea of Good International Citizenship and the
recent evolution of UK foreign and security policy. Good International Citizenship centres on the
mediation of ethical commitments to national interest, to the promotion international order,and to
the wellbeing of vulnerable non-citizen populations. Whilst ethical commitments to non-citizens
have become overt components of British foreign policy, recent UK governments have struggled to
reconcile these with commitments to the national interest and a stable international order. The
article argues that the more direct affirmation of Good International Citizenship as a narrative and
ethos of practice for UK foreign policy might help further the increasingly open discussion on the
ethics and UK foreign policy. As a framework for dialogue and public debate, the concept provides
a means by which ethical commitments in the traditionally closed world of foreign policy might be
opened up to wider critical scrutiny.
Keywords: British foreign policy; ethical foreign policy; Good International
Citizenship; the English school
Introduction
This article re-visits the concept of Good International Citizenship, exploring its
relationship with UK foreign and security policy. Elements of Good International
Citizenship were characteristic of Labour’s foreign policy from 1997–2010 and
remain evident in the foreign policy of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coali-
tion. However, the article argues that reconciling responsibilities to the national
interest, a stable international order and responsibilities to a wider community of
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doi: 10.1111/1467-856X.12032 BJPIR: 2015 VOL 17, 106–129
© 2014 The Author.British Journal of Politics and International Relations © 2014
Political Studies Association
humankind, continues to represent a problematic feature of UK foreign policy.
Military interventionism and liberal internationalist hubris, in the case of Labour,
and the re-emphasis of UK national interests, under the Coalition, have both
constrained the extent to which Good International Citizenship has become embed-
ded in the practice of UK foreign policy.
The article argues that the value of Good International Citizenship lies in its
potential role as a discursive framework through which the continuities and ten-
sions between the, often contradictory, responsibilities to the national interest,
international stability and vulnerable non-citizens might be examined more con-
sistently. Good International Citizenship is not conceived as a tool to provide an
objective determination of when the correct balance has been struck between these
three spheres of responsibility. Indeed, it is questionable whether a ‘perfect’ balance
could ever be struck, given the intrinsically political choices that are always made
between these spheres. The concept’s value lies in its function as a framework
through which wider public debate and analysis of the UK’s foreign policy agenda
might be fostered. This is particularly significant in a global political context where
the boundaries between national interest, the normative stability of international
society and the wellbeing of vulnerable non-citizens appear increasingly blurred.
Rather than suggesting that UK foreign policy needs to be more or less ethically
driven, Good International Citizenship provides a narrative through which it can be
accepted that all dimensions of foreign policy are associated with ethical choices and
obligations. A more direct and open affirmation of Good International Citizenship
by policymakers would represent an initial step in opening a new discursive process
in UK foreign policy.
The first section unpacks the concept of the Good International Citizen, a product
of the English School/International Society approach, that promotes idea of states
acting in pursuit of a ‘world common good’ (Bull 1983, 13), with a ‘willingness to
place constraints on self-interest’ (Linklater 1992, 23). The onus on Good Interna-
tional Citizens is to work towards reconciliation of ethical obligations to national
interest with wider responsibilities to the preservation of international order and,
more controversially, acting to promote the safety and wellbeing of human popu-
lations beyond state borders.
The second section explores the engagement with these three spheres of ethical
obligation by the Labour and Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition govern-
ments. Although Labour’s ‘foreign policy with an ethical dimension’ (Cook 1997)
was widely derided, what is evident is the continued prevalence of overt commit-
ments to endangered non-citizens following the 2010 General Election. Renewed
commitments to civilian protection, international development, human rights,
alongside the 2011 intervention in Libya and on-going calls for a more robust
response to violence in Syria are indicative of this pattern. However, these conti-
nuities are juxtaposed against the Coalition’s re-assertion of the primacy of national
interest. The article focuses on the cross-governmental Stabilisation approach that
first emerged during Labour’s tenure, and continues as a feature of Coalition
security discourse. Although stabilisation actively engages with the connection
between national interest, the stability of international society and the moral
responsibility to help vulnerable non-citizens, irrespective of citizenship, it remains
GOOD INTERNATIONAL CITIZENSHIP 107
© 2014 The Author.British Journal of Politics and International Relations © 2014 Political Studies Association
BJPIR, 2015, 17(1)
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