Who Should Take the Decision to go to War?
Professor Philip Towle - University of Cambridge

The war in Iraq has evoked a whole series of questions about the way in which the Anglophone democracies take decisions to go to war. In Britain the Intelligence services, the cabinet government system, Parliament, the role of the armed forces and public attitudes have all come under scrutiny for the first time since the Boer War. The paper looks at the various issues involved and where the system can be improved to avoid the mistakes made in recent years. The fundamental issue raised is, however, not so much constitutional but about the Anglophone propensity to intervene in other cultures and the increasing problems this is going to cause in the future.