MUSAU PAGE 1 THE IMPACT OF UK FOREIGN POLICY ON EAST AFRICAN STATES: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA Musau, Sarah Ph.D. student in Diplomacy and International Affairs ABSTRACT The definition of foreign policy is one of the most contested and sometimes convoluting. Different scholars define foreign policy as the “behavior of a state towards other states.” 1 According to As, foreign policy not only involves change but also a continuation of the behavior at different times. 2 The UK’s definition of foreign policy ties to three fundamental interests: trade, security, and values. 3 Ross points out that the UK’s foreign policy has no clear guideline and, therefore, bases it on the national gain from interaction with a different state/s. 4 For example, the UK has and continues to adjust its foreign policy in the East African States, most of which were its colonies. Kenya is the leading economic giant in the region and maintains close relations with the UK since its independence. This paper deployed desk research review method to explore the impact of the UK’s foreign policy on Kenya from the pre-colonial to date. 1 Bojang As, “The Study of Foreign Policy in International Relations,” Journal of Political Science and Public Affairs 6, no. 4 (2018):1, doi:10.4172/2332-0761.1000337 (accessed November 1, 2020). 2 Ibid. 3 Carne Ross, Independent Diplomat: Dispatches from an Unaccountable Elite (New York: Cornell University Press, 2007), 115-116. 4 Ibid., 115.