Can Policy Succeed through Inactivity? A Case Study of UK Foreign Policy after the Gulf War

Abstract Can policy succeed through inactivity? Why does some inactivity lead to policy success, whilst others lead to policy failure? Whilst traditional approaches to policy success and failure have focused upon the impact of active policy interventions, this article draws together literature on policy failure and inactivity to develop hypotheses and a new conceptual framework to engage with the problem of inactivity in foreign policy. These are then applied to the case study of UK foreign policy in the Middle East after the 1990–1991 Gulf War. During this time the British government established four key policies; two would succeed, whilst two would fail. Using the new framework, extensive archival research, and documents received under the Freedom of Information Act, conditions for policy success and failure are revealed. As a result, this article argues that inactivity can be highly consequential and deserves much greater attention within foreign policy scholarship.