First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain Essay

First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain - Essay Example Extremely opposite to his highly-confrontational and crusade-oriented predecessor, Margaret Thatcher, Major was considerably a consensus politician. He based his domestic and foreign policies on the general agreement of his cabinet and advisers, and his decisions were essentially grounded on diplomacy and compromise (Reitan 2003). Although Major’s leadership was unfairly marked as ‘boring’ and ‘weak,’ a great deal of events actually made a turn-around on this conception, of which tested his resolute boldness and robust fortitude.  Early on his succession as prime minister, Major was already beset by innumerable international dilemmas of which the United Kingdom government needed to respond to quickly and wisely. The 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War can be certainly dubbed as his ‘baptism of fire’ in the global stage. The event did not only unleash Major’s daring spirit, but also brought out a dormant political acumen by his participati ng openly in the fight against Saddam Hussein and by his deciding to topple the despotic regime. He was one of the prime movers of the so-called Operation Desert Storm, or its British equivalent, the Operation Granby. Among European nations, it was the UK who sent the largest military contingents in the combat operations of the war. The prime minister worked closely with the United Nations Security Council and the United States. Fiscal crisis approached but the interest rates had to be heightened in order to control inflation.