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The National Interest and the Politics of Threat Exaggeration: The Blair Government's Case for War against Iraq
Author(s) -
DOIG ALAN,
PHYTHIAN MARK
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-923x.2005.00695.x
Subject(s) - scrutiny , exchequer , national interest , criticism , politics , exaggeration , political science , government (linguistics) , public interest , subject (documents) , state (computer science) , law , public administration , political economy , sociology , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm , psychiatry , library science , computer science
During the 2005 General Election the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, suggested that the invasion of Iraq was in 'the national interest'. Whether he knew it or not, this phrase has often referred to controversial decisions taken by governments, away from scrutiny and subject to criticism when made public, but which they believe are in the best interests of the British state. The article summarises the consequences of the invasion in terms of the subsequent criticism and official inquiries before addressing the question of what is the national interest. The article then considers what exactly was the threat, and whether or not it was exaggerated, and what evidence is now emerging to indicate that the decision to invade was taken 'in the national interest'. It concludes that there was a decision to support the USA and that the threat was exaggerated to justify this decision.