To what extent did Thatcher achieve her aims in foreign policy?
Shereen Amro
To what extent did Thatcher achieve her aims in foreign policy?
When Margaret Thatcher first came to power in 1979 she had little interest in foreign policy but focussing mainly on economic and domestic policy. However, it was an area where she left a huge impact on.
One of Thatcher’s aims was to increase the defence for Britain as she believed the USSR was a massive threat militarily. This meant improving relations with the USA. Her views on Communism helped with this as her and Ronald Reagan both shared the same ideas. She also believed NATO was vital to British and European defence and so to strengthen this relationship was important.
She supported NATO’s decision to deploy US nuclear cruise and Pershing missiles in Western Europe and permitted the US to station more than 160 cruise missiles at RAF Greenham Common, even though she knew it would trigger mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.
Relations improved with the US when Thatcher permitted US F-111s to use Royal Air Force bases for the bombing of Libya in retaliation for their apparent bombing of a Berlin nightclub; this decision wasn’t very popular with the British citizens.