The ‘morality of compromise’: David Owen, human rights diplomacy and the fall of the Pahlavi dynasty

Abstract

Abstract Following his appointment as Foreign Secretary in February 1977, David Owen framed human rights promotion as a guiding principle of British foreign policy. Sensitive to Iran’s significance as a pro-Western power in the Middle East and appreciative of the opportunities that the Shah’s custom provided for British business, Owen would continue to champion human rights promotion as a central pillar of Britain’s international agenda while simultaneously providing support to the Shah’s dictatorship. This article scrutinises Owen’s attempts to rationalise this fundamental contradiction by constructing a ‘morality of compromise’ which drew inspiration, inter alia, from the value pluralism espoused by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin. In so doing, analysis not only complements and builds upon existing coverage of Anglo-Iranian relations and the marginalisation of human rights concerns therein; it also highlights the importance of moral psychology and its role in shaping ethical foreign policymaking at an individual level.