The diplomatic foreign relations of the United Kingdom are implemented by the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The UK was the world's foremost power during the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout history it has wielded significant influence upon other nations via the British Empire, and until the 1950s was considered a superpower. However, the cost of two World Wars and the process of decolonisation diminished this influence. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom remains a major power and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a Member state of the European Union, and a founding member of the G7, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Council of Europe, OSCE, and the Commonwealth of Nations, which is a legacy of the British Empire.
Read more about Foreign Relations Of The United Kingdom: History, Major International Disputes Since 1945, Sovereignty Disputes, Commonwealth of Nations & Ireland, United States, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, Asia, International Organisations
Famous quotes containing the words foreign, relations, united and/or kingdom:
“Our day of dependence, our long apprenticeship to the learning of other lands, draws to a close. The millions, that around us are rushing into life, cannot always be fed on the sere remains of foreign harvests.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I want relations which are not purely personal, based on purely personal qualities; but relations based upon some unanimous accord in truth or belief, and a harmony of purpose, rather than of personality. I am weary of personality.... Let us be easy and impersonal, not forever fingering over our own souls, and the souls of our acquaintances, but trying to create a new life, a new common life, a new complete tree of life from the roots that are within us.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“... while one-half of the people of the United States are robbed of their inherent right of personal representation in this freest country on the face of the globe, it is idle for us to expect that the men who thus rob women will not rob each other as individuals, corporations and Government.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)
“I’ll give my jewels for a set of beads,
My gorgeous palace for a hermitage,
...
And my large kingdom for a little grave,
A little, little grave, an obscure grave.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)