The Gerry Adams Visa in Anglo-American Relations

Abstract:This article argues, firstly, that British diplomats were so taken aback by the Gerry Adams visa in 1994 they were incapable of countering President Clinton's sudden diplomatic initiative. Secondly, it argues that British officials tacitly welcomed the ends of American intercession, though they resisted the means. This was not because Adams was uniquely wicked but because his visa showed the limitations of their influence in a capital city supposedly more pro-British than any other.This paper is based on research conducted by the author and presented in ‘Turf war: the Clinton administration and Northern Ireland’, PhD dissertation, Boston College (USA), 2003. The author is a lecturer in American politics and foreign policy at the University of Leicester, England.