Case 280 - Two Foreign Policy Dilemmas for the U.K. Labor Government: The Sale of Hawk Jets to Indonesia and NATO's Intervention in Kosovo

Wheeler, Nicholas J. and Tim Dunne

This case study, created for the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, examines two foreign policy dilemmas Tony Blair faced during his first term as British prime minister. First, reneging on a contract to sell Hawk jets to Indonesia would jeopardize relations with the world’s fourth-most populous state, as well as causing it to lose export earnings--but honoring it would strengthen the Indonesian armed forces, widely condemned for gross human rights violations. Second, the decision to use force, alongside NATO allies, against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia raised the ultimate dilemma for those who seek to put human rights at the heart of foreign policy: Can force be pressed into service for good ends; and, if so, at what cost? Through exploration of these situations, the authors shed light on what, in their view, constitutes an “ethical” foreign policy.