British political identity and Iraq: how we think of ourselves shapes where and when we fight

British involvement in the Iraq War, and the political contestation it generated, highlight important questions about British politics and the conduct of security policy. How did the government seek to create a narrative that Iraq was a threat requiring military action? To what degree was Blair successful, and why? Jarrod Hayes explains that, at least in part, the answers lie in British political identity: how the British understand themselves as democrats and good international citizens.