British Policyiowards Europe From The Geopoliteal View ——A New Interpretation Based On "Three Periods"

Based on the logic of the "Men-Milieu Relationship Hypothesis" of the Sprouts,this paper holds that geopolitics affects the formation of the British geopolitical view in the "three periods";The geopolitical view has a direct impact on the decision-makers' formulation of British European policy in different periods.Starting from the differences between sea and land dependence in the British national development strategy,this paper summarizes the "three periods" of Britain since modern times(i.e.the period of "balance of power" policy towards Europe,the period from 1945 to 2016 when the decision to leave Europe was made in the referendum and the third period was since Brexit decision-making)as "Controlling Land by Sea","Toward Land by Sea" and "Both Sea and Land".During the period of "Controlling Land by Sea",Britain formed a marine geopolitical view.At this time,the European region did not have the highest priority in British foreign policy.The main goal of British foreign policy was world maritime hegemony and overseas colonial empire.Accordingly,the British formed a European policy characterized by balance of power;During the "Toward Land by Sea" period,on the basis of significant changes in the influence of Geopolitics on Britain,British policymakers also gradually formed a "Turning Land" geopolitical view.Under this understanding,Britain's European policy has also experienced a gradual change process of "boycott-wait-and-see-approach-join in-close-exit".At this time,whether boycotting or joining in the European Community,the European region has become the most important topic of British foreign policy,the weight of the European region is prominent,and has become the focus of British foreign policy;During the period of "Both Sea and Land",with the decision of Brexit and the launch of "Global Britain" strategy,Britain's geopolitical view at this time has the characteristics of giving consideration to both sea and land,and Britain began to seek global interests.At this time,although the European region is still important to the UK,under the influence of the "Global Britain" strategy,the importance of the European region to the UK has decreased significantly compared with the "sea to land" period.On the basis of summarizing and comparing the influence mechanism of the"three periods" geopolitical view on the British European policy,this paper believes that the British geopolitical view first affects the weight cognition of the European region in the British foreign policy,and then affects the British specific European policy.Using this logic,this paper looks forward to the future that the UK will continue the cognition of the geopolitical view of giving consideration to both sea and land.Although the weight of the European region in the UK's foreign policy has decreased compared with the "sea to land" period,it is still one of the most important regions in the UK,and the UK and Europe will continue the relationship model of "Brexit without Separation".Generally speaking,with the change of geopolitical influence on Britain(from Mode 1.0 to Mode 3.0),Britain's geopolitical view has also undergone corresponding changes(from marine geopolitical view to "turning land" geopolitical view,and then to both land and sea geopolitical view),which further affects the change of Britain's continental policy.However,in the three periods,Britain has never given up its adherence to the"sea"(whether geographical sea or psychological sea),that is,the self-awareness of Britain's marine country has never changed.This paper mainly uses three research methods,namely case analysis,comparative analysis and literature analysis.The case analysis method enables this paper to systematically study the British European policy;The comparative analysis method can make the change of British geopolitical view and its influence on European policy more distinct in the three periods;Literature analysis makes the research of this paper more scientific and detailed.The three innovations of this paper are as follows:First,on the basis of drawing lessons from the theoretical logic of "Man-Milieu Relationship Hypotheses " of Harold and Margaret Sprout,this paper makes a dichotomy between geopolitics and geopolitical views,and systematically discusses Britain's European policy in the"three periods" from the perspective of geopolitical views.Second,this paper attempts to summarize the "three periods" into three formulations:"controlling land by sea","toward land by sea" and both sea and land",and upgrade the relatively constant influence of Geopolitics on Britain as the concept of "geopolitical nature".Third,on the basis of comparing and summarizing the differences of geopolitical influence on British European policy in the three periods,this paper respectively classifies the influence modes of Geopolitics in the three periods into Mode 1.0?Mode 2.0 and Mode 3.0.