The Ulster Unionist Party and the U. S. Role in the Northern Ireland Peace Process, 1994–2000 |
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| Authors: | Andrew J Wilson |
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| Institution: | professor of history at Loyola University of Chicago. He has researched and written on the peace process and the problems of Northern Ireland. He is the author of Irish America and the Ulster Conflict (Catholic University of America Press, 1995). |
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| Abstract: | Since the beginning of the "Troubles," Ulster unionists generally have viewed American involvement in Northern Ireland as biased towards nationalists and "unwanted interference" in their internal affairs. Yet despite vehement condemnations, unionists made virtually no attempt to counteract Irish-American perceptions or to explain unionism to U. S. audiences. But from 1994 onwards, mainly in response to the expanding involvement of the Clinton administration in the peace process, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) launched a sustained effort to engage the White House and get its views across in America. While some of these UUP initiatives got nowhere, others achieved a considerable degree of success, particularly the effort to convey unionist perspectives to the heart of White House policymaking. |
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