What makes Britain 'Great'? The end of the postwar consensus of liberal internationalism

The Leave and Remain campaigns defined British 'greatness' in very different ways. The referendum reflects more than attitudes toward EU membership - it marks a new understanding of Britain's role in the world, argues Benjamin Martill (LSE). The end of the postwar consensus of liberal internationalism has important implications and needs to be taken seriously. The 'Great' in Great Britain is a geographical ..

The end of foreign policy consensus? How Remainers and Leavers view Britain's place in the world

Drawing on data from the LSE's collection of materials from the 2016 referendum campaign, Benjamin Martill finds that the Remain and Leave camps articulated distinct views when it came to foreign affairs. The findings also suggest that the goals of British foreign policy itself are likely to be increasingly subject of political division after Brexit

Hard bargaining dies hard: the cultural factors behind Britain’s ill-suited Brexit negotiation strategy

While the UK is weaker than the EU on key metrics of bargaining power, the British approach to the Brexit negotiations has been characterised by hard bargaining. Benjamin Martill writes that a number of cultural factors have influenced the UK’s decision to adopt such a sub‐optimal strategy, including the country’s weak socialisation into the EU, overstated perceptions of its own capabilities, the prevailing conservative political ideology, and a longstanding preference for ‘divide and rule’ diplomatic strategies

G7 summit: America is back, but Britain cannot escape Brexit

Through its withdrawal from the EU, the UK diminished its overall usefulness to other actors. Little wonder, then, that efforts to demonstrate the utility of Global Britain at the G7 summit were overshadowed by the complexities of withdrawal, writes Benjamin Martill

Can Parliament be scared into submission over the Brexit deal?

As agreement is reached with the EU, Theresa May’s Brexit deal will come before Parliament. In this blog, Benjamin Martill (LSE) breaks down the parliamentary arithmetic and assesses her options