Foreign Policy after World WarⅡ
After World WarⅡ，Britain adopted an isolationist policy toward Europe but cooperated very closely with the United States in the Cold War.It joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization（NATO）in 1949 and followed the United States into the Korean War in 1951.Meanwhile，it refused to join the European Community when it was founded in the 1950s，and instead concentrated its trade with the British Commonwealth nations.However，in the 1960s，British trade with European nations became more and more important.In 1968，37％ of British exports went to Western Europe and only 28％ went to Commonwealth countries.As a result，Britain began to change the focus of its foreign policy and applied to join the European Community.However，its application was twice vetoed by French President Charles de Gaulle in 1963 and 1967.It was not until 1973 when de Gaulle retired that Britain finally gained membership in the European Community.
After Britain joined the European Community，it became increasingly involved in European affairs.At the same time，Britain still tried to assert its independence from continental ties.The British government still was closer to the United States than to the European continent，especially so after Thatcher became Prime Minister.Thatcher told President Reagan on her first visit to the United States that“Your problems are our problems，and when you look for friends，we shall be there.”Even when America invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada，a Commonwealth country，against British opposition，Thatcher still believed that the friendship between America and Britain should not be jeopardized and followed the United States into the 1990 war to reverse the Iraqi military invasion of Kuwait.At the same time，Thatcher vehemently resisted European integration，even against her own Cabinet members’advice;this led to the resignation of several important ministers and finally contributed to her own downfall.Prime Minister John Major changed the government’s policy toward European integration and brought the United Kingdom into the European Union in 1993，although he also maintained very close relationship with the United States.
Tony Blair’s Labor government continued Major’s policy of active participation in European affairs，but he refused to commit Britain to adopt the new single European currency，the Euro.When the Euro was officially launched in 1999，Britain declined to participate.Britain’s economy has been doing much better than those of the other major European countries since the mid 1990s.Blair is concerned that adopting the Euro might damage the British economy since it would have to lower its interest rates，which might create inflationary pressure.
In its relationship with the United States，the Blair government continued the Conservative Party’s policy of close friendship.Indeed，Blair allied himself with U.S.President George W.Bush so closely that he was criticized by some as acting subservient to the United States.Under the Blair government，Britain joined the United States in most military actions with or without the support of the United Nations.Britain supported the United States in the 2003 war against Iraq although it was not sanctioned by the United Nations and was opposed by most Western European countries.Blair faced strong opposition to the war within Britain.The war was fought based on the belief that Iraq was making weapons of mass destruction，but American and British troops did not find any evidence of such weapons in Iraq.As a result，Parliament questioned the credibility of the government and demanded an independent investigation of the matter.Continuous terrorist attacks in Iraq and other countries which helped the United States in the war caused more criticism against the Blair government.Under tremendous pressure，Tony Blair announced his resignation on May 10，2006 and left office officially on June 27，2007.He was succeeded by Gordon Brown，who was previously Chancellor of the Exchequer in Blair’s government.
In the 2010 election，the Labor Party was defeated by the Conservative Party headed by David Cameron，who organized a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats as the Conservative Party did not have a majority in the Parliament.
Then in 2016，when the British people voted to withdraw from the European Union in the referendum held on June 23，David Cameron resigned as the Prime Minister and Theresa May，the former home secretary became the new Prime Minister.The United Kingdom will formally leave the European Union by the summer of 2019 if all negotiations with the European Union have finished by then.It will become the first member state of the European Union to leave it.