Trovare un ruolo, fare una scelta : riflessioni sulla collocazione internazionale della Gran Bretagna contemporanea

The main goal of this essay is to refl ect on tensions, intertwining and overlapping of ideas and political projects that have paved the way to the British experience in the Community/Union from accession to Brexit. This is not an attempt to reconstruct the history of Britain in Europe but an interpretative and selective choice of historical moments, projects and political issues related to the international position of Britain after WWII. To this end the author refl ects on British foreign policy towards the Continent, the United States, the English-speaking Community of nations and the Commonwealth in order to trace and pin point relevant passages in the transformation of British allegiances since the Churchillian 'three interlinked circles' of infl uence. Key moments in this narrative are: a) victory in WWII; b) accession to the Ec; c) Thatcherism and the road to Brexit. [Publisher's text].