Between America and Europe: transatlantic influences on the policies of Gordon Brown

Abstract

This article intends to review the international influences on the policies pursued by Gordon Brown during his career in the British government between 1997 and 2010. As often as Brown has been seen to be an admirer of the USA he has seemed less connected with his European counterparts. This conception is further compounded as literature on Brown has decreased since his 2010 election defeat. This article addresses these shortcomings as it will explore the international influences on specific policies associated with Brown to demonstrate the sway of both America and Europe on Brown's career. Policies such as the deregulation of the Bank of England, Welfare to Work and Brown's 2009 London G20 summit will be explored to demonstrate the continuous impact of these international stimuli throughout Brown's time in government.The career of Gordon Brown has divided academics, critics and commentators. As Seldon and Lodge have explained, many of the accounts of the premiership of Gordon Brown are negative or sensationalised to the extent that our understanding of Brown is obscured. 1 This critique has been further underlined with the limited analysis of the Brown years within the academic literature since his 2010 general election defeat. This article intends to address some of these limitations in the scholarly work on Brown and his time in government from 1997 to 2010. The literature that does explore the policies of Brown often emphasises the American influence and inspiration for many of Brown's key political decisions. To many, this Atlanticism is taken for granted with little time spent exploring the reasoning or value of this American influence. It is undeniable that Brown found great inspiration from American counterparts. Yet, this article contends that the USA was not a singular influence and Brown needs to be equally understood in the light of his European engagements. In the writings on Brown, a variety of different theoretical understandings are often laid out to help explain his policies. Although these theoretical views are valuable for developing our knowledge, it is important to balance these theoretical stances with corresponding policy positions. Therefore, this article will seek to look beyond the varied theoretical analysis relating to Brown in order to gain insight into his broader career in British government. *