The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865–1914
Cambridge University Press, 9/29/2011
EAN 9781107006508, ISBN10: 1107006503
Hardcover, 468 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
With this pioneering approach to the study of international history, T. G. Otte reconstructs the underlying principles, élite perceptions and 'unspoken assumptions' that shaped British foreign policy between the death of Palmerston and the outbreak of the First World War. Grounded in a wide range of public and private archival sources, and drawing on sociological insights, The Foreign Office Mind presents a comprehensive analysis of the foreign service as a 'knowledge-based organization', rooted in the social and educational background of the diplomatic élite and the broader political, social and cultural fabric of Victorian and Edwardian Britain. The book charts how the collective mindset of successive generations of professional diplomats evolved, and reacted to and shaped changes in international relations during the second half of the nineteenth century, including the balance of power and arms races, the origins of appeasement and the causes of the First World War.
Introduction
1. Illusions of supremacy
the Foreign Office mind, 1865–74
2. The problems of isolation
the Foreign Office mind, 1874–85
3. Problems of consolidation
the Foreign Office mind, 1885–92
4. Two eastern questions
the Foreign Office mind and the period of flux in great power politics, 1892–1900
5. The transformation of great power politics
the Edwardian Foreign Office mind, 1900–7
6. The end of an era
the late-Edwardian Foreign Office mind, 1907–14
Conclusion.
Advance praise: 'Otte opens up our understanding of the role of the diplomatic professionals in the long nineteenth century, keeping a careful balance in his analysis of the role of the professionals and that of their political masters. Meticulous in its scholarship, written with great clarity, this work demonstrates with ease a mastery of a complex and intricate subject.' Erik Goldstein, Boston University