This article examines the rationale behind the Heath government's 1970 decision to negotiate a Five Power Defence agreement with Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia and to maintain a small British military contingent in Southeast Asia as a part of this new politico-military framework. It argues that while its overriding foreign policy concern was to end Britain's problematic relationship with the European Economic Community and to make membership of this grouping the cornerstone of its foreign policy, the Heath government was careful not to cast Britain's post-imperial future in purely European terms. The successful negotiation of the Five Power Defence Arrangements in 1970-71 was instrumental in achieving this by ensuring that London would maintain close links with key Commonwealth partners in the Asian region. In what was not only an attempt to neutralize potential domestic opposition to Britain's entry into the EEC, but also a lingering reluctance to do away with the rhetoric of Britain as a leading power with extra-European interests, Heath was eager to show that by making a contribution to the stability of Southeast Asia, Britain still had a role to play outside Europe.
Matched MeSH terms: International Cooperation/history*
In the introduction three stages are distinguished in the relation between the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the tropics: (1) Development of a veterinary infrastructure (research and education) in the former colonies, Netherlands-Indies, Surinam and The Netherlands Antilles (1850 - ca. 1949); (2) Developing Aid Assistance (1965-2000) and (3) Cooperation on the basis of bilateral treaties that express the mutual interests of the two countries involved (1993-today). The Faculty in Utrecht entered into such alliances with sister faculties in Thailand, South-Africa and Malaysia. As a result of internal and external factors the study of tropical veterinary medicine was no longer core business of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Utrecht. Tropical veterinary medicine was incorporated in the Department of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine. The Office for International Cooperation of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1987, partly took over the role of the former institute. Its activities are education and information, research support of the ongoing projects and networking. The accent moved from aid to cooperation for mutual interest.
Matched MeSH terms: International Cooperation/history*