This essential new history of the Irish state is a study of Ireland’s international profile on the world stage, rather than its party politics. Against a global backdrop, it offers a fresh and analytical study of the origins of the Irish state, the Irish revolution and the growth of Irish diplomacy, from just six consulates in the 1920s to over sixty embassies by the 2010s. Through original research and analysis, historian Owen McGee explores how Ireland’s economic performance formed a perpetual context for its role in international relations, and also locates Ireland’s place within evolving European, American and United Nations debates, resulting in the first comprehensive and incisive overview of a century of Irish diplomacy.
By focusing on Ireland’s struggle for independence in a global context, McGee examines how the Irish state slowly came to find a distinct role on the world stage, and raises questions regarding its evolving geopolitical, cultural and economic identities, as it sought to find its place within a globalised economy, not only politically but also in terms of the world of ideas.
Introduction. Has Ireland a Significant International Story to Tell?
Chapter 1. Ireland’s Place in World History: From the Fianna to the First World War
Chapter 2. A Republican Moment: Ireland’s Independence Struggle in a Global Context, 1919–1922
Chapter 3. Financial Quagmires and Legal Limits: Irish Free State Diplomacy, 1922–1938
Chapter 4. A Spirit of Non-Alignment: Ireland in and out of the British Commonwealth, 1938–1955
Chapter 5. Introducing Ireland to the United Nations and the European Community, 1955–1968
Chapter 6. Small Worlds: Globalisation, the Northern Question and Irish Crisis Diplomacy, 1968–1982
Chapter 7. Ireland and the Reinvention of the European Political Order, 1982–1994
Chapter 8. Beyond Hegemonies: Ireland in the EU and on the World Stage since 1994
Conclusion. The Evolution of Ireland’s Role in International Relations, Past and Present