A Forward Policy is a set of
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
doctrines applicable to territorial ambitions and disputes in which emphasis is placed on securing control of targeted territories by invasion and annexation or by the political creation of compliant
buffer states. Such foreign policies have been used by a number of countries including Austria, France, Britain and China,
to achieve their tactical aims over external countries. The term has been candidly employed as an unvarnished
sobriquet for two military 'forward policies' in two periods of history relating to the Central Asian border disputes in
The Great Game,
The term has been used more generally to describe the promulgation of policies in specific areas for tactical reasons, such as by British women's
anti-suffragism supporters from 1908 to 1914, who set out a raft of progressive policy proposals affecting women but excluding
suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...
under the label of the Forward Policy.
The Great Game
The Great Game was a long period of dispute between the British and Russian empires from circa 1813 to 1907, reflecting British concerns about the security of its Indian empire as the empire expended southwards; and played out in competitions for strategic control of Afghanistan, Persia, the Central Asian Khanates/Emirates and the British trade-route to India.
In The Great Game, the Forward Policy or Forward School was identified with arguments for the annexation of, or the control of foreign policy of, states and territories on the Indian border. The policy came with a number of costs: of armies deployed to secure territory, or subsidies to client states; as well as opportunity costs such as the increased risk of revolt in other parts of India should troops be moved to the frontier.
The Forward Policy stood in contrast with the "
masterly inactivity
Watchful waiting (also watch and wait or WAW) is an approach to a medical problem in which time is allowed to pass before medical intervention or therapy is used. During this time, repeated testing may be performed.
Related terms include ''expec ...
" or Backward school of policy, which saw the geography of the subcontinent, especially the Himalayas, as sufficient protection against Russian encroachment, and which was - all things being equal - less risky and of lower cost.
Support for and dominancy of the two policies varied across time and place, with changes of government and circumstance. In Britain,
Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-con ...
and the
Liberals are identified with the Backward school,
Disraeli and the
Conservatives with the Forward.
Amongst India hands
Lord Wellesley, an early
Governor-General of India, supported the policy, as did his acolyte
John Malcolm and less exalted staff such as
William Moorcroft Sir Henry Rawlinson was a strong advocate of the Forward Policy, notably in this ‘’England and Russia in the East’’ (1875) .
Charles Metcalfe, 1st Baron Metcalfe, a member of the Supreme Council of India and later
Governor General of Bengal, favoured the opportunity for consolidation offered by Masterful Inactivity. Contention between the two played out at local as well as national levels: Sandeman's Forward Policy in
Balochistan was at a complete variance with his colleague's approaches in neighbouring frontier areas.
The
Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 settled
British-Russian relations by defining borders and spheres of influence sufficiently to enable Britain to bring its Forward Policy to an end.
See also
*
Forward policy (Sino-Indian conflict)
Forward policy, in the context of Sino-Indian border conflict, was a term coined by the Indian Army to refer to an Indian government directive instructing it to establish "forward" posts (advance posts) to reclaim territory occupied by China. Mu ...
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
*{{cite book, title=The Forward Policy and its results, first=Richard Isaac, last=Bruce, date=1900, url=https://archive.org/details/forwardpolicyan00brucgoog, publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co., location=London
Foreign policy
International relations theory
Geopolitical terminology