Abstract
The term 'Global Britain' was widely used by the UK government between 2016 and 2021, in part at least, to signal its ambition to reorient the nation's foreign policy on departure from the European Union. There was, however, considerable uncertainty about what the term meant beyond this, with some commentators suggesting that it denoted a significant de-prioritising of relations with European nations, others arguing that it represented a reassertion of colonial perspectives, and yet others contending it was largely an empty concept, devoid of any real meaning. In this article, we draw on a range of policy documents to consider whether it can be considered as a form of 'cosmopolitan nationalism' – i.e. a policy agenda that promoted both a sense of nationalism and a global outlook. In developing our analysis, we focus on the area of education, in particular – not least because this was one of the few policy domains where the language of 'Global Britain' was, until recently, still used (in the promotion of the Turing Scheme). We argue that while, prima facie, the term seems a potentially plausible case of cosmopolitan nationalism, the significant limitations to the 'global outlook' that is deployed suggest that it was far from 'cosmopolitan' in its reach and ambition.