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by Arthur Snell (Author)
How Britain Broke the World is a compelling, eye-opening account of how British foreign policy helped shape the turbulent world we're living in now. If you've wondered why the rules-based international order feels weaker, why conflict keeps spreading, and why trust in Western leadership has eroded, this book connects the dots - from the Balkans to the Middle East, from London's financial districts to Brexit's aftershocks in Europe.
Snell isn't a distant commentator. He served as a British diplomat through the era of "ethical foreign policy," humanitarian intervention and the war on terror, including postings in places where the consequences were brutally real. He writes with an insider's understanding of the Foreign Office, Downing Street decision-making, intelligence culture, and the national obsession with "punching above our weight" - and he shows what happens when ambition outruns strategy, expertise and accountability.
Across a fast-moving narrative of modern history and geopolitics, you'll see how pivotal UK choices since the late 1990s contributed to a world of greater instability, rising authoritarianism and deepening great-power rivalry. Snell explores how Britain repeatedly became the "marginal buyer" in international crises: not always the biggest actor, but the one that tipped the balance.
Inside, you'll explore:
- Kosovo and the birth of liberal interventionism: NATO's war in Europe, the humanitarian argument, and the long-term cost of bypassing UN Security Council authority
- Iraq, MI6, and the weapons of mass destruction fiasco: intelligence failures, the infamous dossier, and how a botched invasion helped fuel sectarian violence, regional chaos and the conditions that later fed ISIS/Islamic State
- Afghanistan and the fantasy of "government in a box" counter-terrorism, nation-building, Helmand, and why exit strategies collapse when local realities are ignored
- Libya and Syria: regime change, power vacuums, proxy warfare, and the ripple effects of prolonged conflict and refugee flows
- Russia and the London laundromat: oligarchs, offshore tax havens, money laundering, corruption and the security consequences of letting dirty money shape politics
- China and Britain's "golden era" error: trade, technology, strategic dependency, and tensions inside the Five Eyes intelligence alliance
