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You are here Undergraduate > Single Honors History > HI3470 Ireland, Britain and America during the Cold War and beyond, 1948-1998

HIU34004 Ireland, Britain and America during the Cold War and beyond, 1948-1998

This course explores the development of Irish foreign policy in the five decades after departure from the British Commonwealth.
  • Module Coordinator:
    • Professor Eunan O'Halpin
  • Duration:
    • All year 
  • Contact Hours:
    • 3 hours per week
  • Weighting:
    • 20 ECTS
  • Assessment:
    • 40% essay, 60% examination

The starting point is 1949, the year in which the Irish government explicitly grounded its refusal to join the new North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) because of partition. The end date is 1998, the year of the Good Friday Agreement.

The course explores official and popular attitudes towards key policy issues including European integration, the role of the United Nations, Irish engagement with developing states, and the Northern Ireland issue, within the frameworks of Anglo-Irish, Irish-American, Anglo-American relations, and Cold War geopolitics.