Reflections on Conservative Politics in the United Kingdom and the United States

Book excerpt: This collective work examines the different conservatisms displayed in the UK and US, particularly in the areas of the meaning of rights, their foreign policy mission, the role of religious activism within their respective party politics, and the impact of the current economic crisis on free-market economic orthodoxy. Drawn from both political scientists and civilizationists, each of these four areas is explored in this work from both the US and the UK perspective. During the 1980’s, United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the United States President Ronald Reagan shared a close relationship both on a personal level, and also politically in the areas of anticommunism and free-market economics. Thirty years later, can we still say that UK and US conservatism continue to share this ideological alignment? This question was explored at a conference held in Rennes France in November 2010, held in the wake of the Conservative victory in the 2010 general election followed by the attainment of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives in the US November elections. This will add to the scholarly mosaic of understanding of what constitutes conservatism, and help clarify the common strands of thought which unite them.