Geopolitics

Hi everybody!

Today, in this article, I will present you the geopolitical situation in England.

        First of all, we must remember that there is in England a constitutional monarchy commonly referred to as British monarchy. The hereditary monarch is at the head of State and the Prime Minister is at the head of the government. Today, the monarch is Queen Elizabeth II and the prime minister is David Cameron who has been respectively operational since 1952 and 2010. Under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the prime minister is at the head of the Conservative Party. 

The Conservative Party is the British right-wing party founded in 1834. The Conservative Party is opposed to the regionalist or separatist tendencies which sometimes occur in Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland (most recently). The conservative party has counted among its members some personalities such as Winston Churchill or Margaret Thatcher.

The distribution of powers:

     Executive power: exercised by the Queen’s government. The members of the government are chosen by the Prime minister.          

Legislative power: exercised by the government and the Parliament (both House of Lords and House of Commons).

           Judicial power: exercised independently from the other powers.

What can the Queen do? What are her powers?

The British monarch the chief of the Commonwealth (composed by 15 different countries). However, each country of the Commonwealth are independent and legally distinct. Queen Elizabeth is also the governor of the Church of England. Nowadays, the role of the monarch is mainly constitutional and limited to ceremonial functions. Moreover, the ultimate executive authority is under the royal prerogative of the monarch. These powers include the dissolution of the Parliament and the enactment of rules for the government and the regulation of the civil services and the armed forces.

          Lancaster is located in the Lancashire region, in the North West England. There are fourteen districts in Lancashire and its population is about 1,170,000. The council of Lancashire is represented by 84 councilors. 39 of them are as part of the Labour Party, 35 are as part of the Conservatives Party and 6, 3 and 1 of them are respectively as part of the Liberal Democrats party, the Independent party and the Green party. There are elections every 4 years.

Internal Conflicts or tensions

            For more than 7 centuries and after several independence wars and religious conflicts, we can say that England and Scotland maintain tumultuous relationships. There were 2 independence wars; the first independent war occurred in 1296 and the second in 1332. Therefore, it’s been a long time that Scotland want to proclaim its independence.

            On September the 18^th, a referendum was held in Scotland. Differing opinions exist on the question of the independence of Scotland and I will try to explain why. The pro-independence supporters say that vote “yes” to the independence of Scotland is a guarantee to never be ruled by the Conservative Party of London. Indeed, it’s important to know that the major party of Scotland votes left for decades. Moreover, they proclaim that the independence of Scotland will save the health care system and will maintain the gratuity of universities. They also promise a greener society, more pacifist and more involved in the European Union.

Conversely, proponents of “no” argue that Scotland benefits from England which is a powerful country. The strong currency and the big domestic market are both good reasons to say that England is economically powerful. If Scotland become independent, the country would not benefit anymore from the currency.

On September, the 18^th in 2014, Scotland decided the future of its country. The major party of the country voted “no” for the independence of Scotland. But the referendum will be organized again (maybe after the Scottish elections in 2020) and Scottish are going to be called again to vote.

External current Conflict which include England

Currently, England is involved in a military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Since the beginning of its intervention, the United Kingdom lost 2 civilians and 1 volunteer. The operation given to the British participation to the intervention against ISIL was called the Operation Shader. This operation began on August, the 7^th in 2014. First, the United Kingdom sent humanitarian aids thanks to airdrops. As the conflict intensified, the British airforce sent reconnaissance aircraft. Before undertaking armed mission, several debates took place in the United Kingdom. After a vote, the large majority said “yes” to undertake armed mission against ISIL. The first armed mission against ISIL took place on September, the 27^th. On that date, the number of airstrikes conducted by the United Kingdom average 194.

This is the end of the article, I hope you learnt more about England and its current situation. See you in my next article :)

Bibliography : 

The Guardian

History of England

Telegraph