Reference no: EM133297896

Case Study: This thesis examines Foreign Office planning for a post-war international organisation during the Second World War. It begins with Britain's search for war aims in 1939 and 1940 and ends with the signing of the United Nations Charter in June 1945. Three officials-namely Alexander Cadogan, Gladwyn Jebb and Charles Webster-are identified as the key figures behind the planning and negotiating stages. The thesis shines light on the indispensable contribution of these men as well as the Foreign Office in the creation of the United Nations Organization, arguing that the British role in this process has not been given its due weight in existing accounts. The thesis is best understood as a study of statecraft, based on archival research and using traditional methods of diplomatic history. It drills down further into the practice of 'planning', which became more important in Western foreign policy in this era, and it aims to draw out what contemporaries called a 'grand strategy for peace'. More specifically, it describes a distinct method and approach of those British diplomats who were attempting to construct and craft the mechanics of the post-war international order (of which Cadogan, Jebb and Webster were the best exemplars). This approach relied heavily on a historical sensibility as it sought to square the competing notions of national interest, power politics and internationalism. While it does not lend itself to neat categorisation, their thinking and approach is described in this thesis as a form of 'realist-internationalism'. This particular approach grew out of the experience of the failure of the League of Nations and reflected a 'great power' view of international relations rooted in a specific reading of nineteenth-century diplomatic history. It was characterised by an attempt to place the British national interest, including the preservation of the Empire, into an internationalist frame.

Question: Whose perspective(s) is presented in the source?