The hidden history of British foreign policy, told through the secret documents governments hoped would never be read.
For decades, Britain has presented itself as a defender of democracy, human rights, and the international rules-based order. But drawing on newly declassified government files and years of investigative reporting, Rogue State uncovers a very different history-one of covert interventions, support for authoritarian regimes, corporate interests, and wars fought far from public scrutiny.
From Iran, Chile, and Cuba to Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Gaza, journalists Mark Curtis, Phil Miller, and John McEvoy trace the enduring patterns that have shaped British foreign policy from the end of empire to the present day. Their investigation reveals how secrecy, intelligence operations, and close alignment with US power have repeatedly taken precedence over democratic accountability and international law.
Grounded in original archival research and reporting by Declassified UK, Rogue State offers a sweeping reassessment of Britain's place in the world-and argues that a fundamentally different foreign policy is both possible and urgently needed.