Diplomacy and world power

de M. L. Dockrill, B. J. C. McKercher

Zara Steiner's contribution to the history of modern British foreign policy has shown successfully the connexion between the attitudes of those who have been responsible for British diplomacy and the policies they produced. Thus, in honouring Dr Steiner, the contributors to this volume explore a number of case studies involving personality and foreign policy: examining the attitudes of those who made or influenced British diplomatic strategies; how these attitudes were shaped by and, occasionally, shaped events; and how British foreign policy in a few instances was fashioned as a result. The contributors have concentrated their efforts on the years 1890-1950, the period of Dr Steiner's interest. This is an important juncture in both international and British history, when Britain's position as the only world power was undermined by the nature of the first and second world wars, and when British diplomats and others had to make adjustments to changed domestic and external conditions in war and peace. The volume therefore adds to the explanations about how and why the transition in Britain's status as a Great Power occurred in the way it did.