How Britain Broke the World

Snell, Arthur H.

£25.00

‘Engrossing and deeply troubling’ – The Bookseller. Why is the world so dangerous now? Former senior British diplomat Arthur Snell reveals the role of the United Kingdom in raising tension and creating global flashpoints around the world. He looks at British interventions from Kosovo to Iraq to Afghanistan, as well as policy on Russia, Saudi Arabia, USA, India and China.

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Publish Date: 21/07/2022

Description

“Buy this book” – John Sweeney

“Engrossing and frankly deeply troubling” – The Bookseller

“I cannot recommend this book highly enough” – Monocle

“Engaging, authentic and original analyses “ –  Shakespeare & Co

Description

Turmoil in the 2020s.

Russia is destroying Ukraine.

China threatens Taiwan and Southeast Asia

Endless war in the Middle East sends waves of migrants and terrorists washing around the world

And the biggest nations on Earth cannot agree effective action to stop the worst effects of global heating.

Instead of being a global force for good, Britain has often fostered instability and division. In fact, the UK’s careless ‘humanitarian’ interventions, grandiosity and greed have helped to fracture the global order built after World War II.

is the world so dangerous now?

How Britain Broke the World is by former senior British diplomat Arthur Snell.

It critically assesses UK foreign policy over the past 25 years, from Kosovo in 1998 to Afghanistan in 2021, while also scrutinising British policy towards the powerhouses of the USA, Russia, India, and China.

Far from being unimportant, Snell reveals, Britain has often played a pivotal role in world affairs. For instance, London supplied the false intelligence that justified the Allied invasion of Iraq and plugged Russia’s corrupt elite into Western economies.

Then come the bungled humanitarian interventions in foreign states.

Without the UK’s marginal but key role, the author argues, it’s likely that wars would not have blighted the Balkans, Iraq, and Libya, hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved, and the world would be a safer place in the 2020s.

Taking in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Snell charts the key political, economic and geographic factors that drive the behaviour of the most powerful and populous countries.

Like a diplomatic version of Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall, How Britain Broke the World reveals the ignominious reality of UK foreign policy and the true state of world affairs. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Britain’s role in international affairs.

Review

‘In this engrossing and frankly deeply troubling book, former senior British diplomat Snell explains how Britain’s often incompetent, inconsistent and sometimes downright greedy foreign policy has played a pivotal role in rendering the world a more dangerous place.

‘Not only in regard to Russia, where successive British governments have helped to plug Putin’s oligarchy into the Western economic system, but also when it comes to the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Libya and more’

Caroline Sanderson, awarding an ‘Editor’s Choice’ for Non-fiction, The Bookseller

About the Author

After graduating from Oxford with a first class degree in history, Arthur Snell joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

A fluent Arabic speaker, he served in Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Yemen, and Iraq.

He headed the international strand of the UK Government’s Prevent counterterrorism programme.

He is currently a geopolitical consultant and host of the hit podcast Doomsday Watch.

Contents

Introduction

1. An ‘Ethical’ Foreign Policy

2. Kosovo: War in Europe

3. Iraq, MI6 and a Botched Invasion

4. Afghanistan: ‘Government in a Box’

5. Libya: Creating a Power Vacuum

6. Syria: A Conflict Without End

7. Russia and the London Laundromat

8. China: the Golden Error of Kowtow

9. Saudi Arabia, Oil and Influence

10. India and the Politics of Empire

11. The US and the UK ‘Special’ Relationship

12. Brexit: Isolation in Europe

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Additional information

Weight 600 g
Dimensions 234 × 154 × 32 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

370

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

327.41 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K