HOW BRITAIN BROKE THE WORLD IBD

Sinopsis

'Engrossing and frankly deeply troubling'á-áThe Bookseller'I cannot recommend this book highly enough'á-áMonocle'One of the most engaging and original analyses IâÇÖve read of events of the last quarter century'á-áShakespeare & Co'Buy this book'á-áJohn Sweeney, journalistTurmoil in the 2020s.Russia has invaded Ukraine.China threatens Taiwan and Southeast Asia.Endless war in the Middle East sends waves of migrantsáand terrorists around the world.And the biggest nations on Earth cannot agree effectiveáaction to stop global heating.Instead of being a global force for good and actively preventing some of these problems, Britain has all too oftenáfostered instability and division. In fact, the UKâÇÖs carelessáâÇÖhumanitarianâÇÖ interventions, grandiosity and greed haveáhelped to fracture the global order built after World War II, argues former British diplomat Arthur Snell in this pithy book.Why is the world soádangerous now?How Britain Broke the Worldácritically assesses UK foreign policyáover the past 25 years, from Kosovo iná1998 to Afghanistan in 2021, while alsoáscrutinising British policy towards theápowerhouses of the USA, Russia, India,áand China.Far from being unimportant, Snelláreveals, Britain has oftenáplayed a pivotal role in world affairs, for instance, by supplying the falseáintelligence that justified the Alliedáinvasion of Iraq and and by plugging RussiaâÇÖsácorrupt elite into Western economies.Then come the bungled humanitarianáinterventions in foreign states.Without the UKâÇÖs marginal but key role,áthe author argues, itâÇÖs likely that warsáwould not have blighted the Balkans,áIraq, and Libya, hundreds of thousandsáof lives would have been saved, and theáworld would be a safer place in the 2020s.Taking in RussiaâÇÖs full-scale invasionáof Ukraine in 2022, Snell charts the keyápolitical, economic and geographicáfactors that drive the behaviour of theámost powerful and populous countries.Like a diplomatic version ofáPrisoners ofáGeographyáby Tim Marshall,áHow BritaináBroke the Worldáreveals the ignominiousáreality of UK foreign policy and the trueástate of world affairs. It is a must-read for anyone interested in BritainâÇÖs role in international affairs.ReviewâÇÖIn this engrossing and frankly deeply troubling book,áformer senior British diplomat Snell explains howáBritainâÇÖs often incompetent, inconsistent and sometimesádownright greedy foreign policy has played a pivotalárole in rendering the world a more dangerous place. Not only in regard to Russia, where successive British governments have helped to plug PutinâÇÖs oligarchy into the Western economic system, but also when it comes to the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Libya and moreâÇÖ - The BooksellerâÇÖs Caroline Sanderson, awarding an âÇÖEditorâÇÖs ChoiceâÇÖ for Non-fiction'Diplomats are masters of urbaneádouble-talk, so it isárefreshing to find a formeráForeign Office mandarin issuing a trenchant indictmentáof BritainâÇÖs deplorable geopoliticaláperformance over the last twenty-five years.' - Literary Review