British foreign policy stands at a turning point following the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. Drawing on role theory, we trace the United Kingdom’s efforts to establish new foreign policy roles as it interacts with the concerned international actors. We find that the pro-Brexit desire to ‘take back control’ has not yet translated into a cogent foreign policy direction. In its efforts to avoid adopting the role of isolate, the United Kingdom has projected a disoriented foreign policy containing elements of partially incompatible roles such as great power, global trading state, leader of the Commonwealth, regional partner to the European Union (EU) and faithful ally to the United States. The international community has, through processes of socialisation and alter-casting, largely rejected these efforts. These role conflicts between the United Kingdom and international actors, as well as conflicts among its different role aspirations, have pressed UK policies towards its unwanted isolationist role, potentially shaping its long-term foreign policy orientation post-Brexit.

中文翻译：

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英国脱欧后的外交政策：失去欧洲并寻找角色

2016 年“脱欧”公投后，英国外交政策处于转折点。借助角色理论，我们追溯了英国在与相关国际参与者互动时为建立新的外交政策角色所做的努力。我们发现，支持英国退欧的“夺回控制权”的愿望尚未转化为令人信服的外交政策方向。为了避免扮演孤立的角色，英国预测了一种迷失方向的外交政策，其中包含部分不相容的角色元素，例如大国、全球贸易国家、英联邦领导人、欧盟 (EU) 的区域伙伴和美国的忠实盟友。国际社会通过社会化和交替铸造的过程，在很大程度上拒绝了这些努力。