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====The legacy of the Iron Lady====

Thatcher’s death prompted mixed reactions, including criticism as well as praise. However, in her efforts to reshape Britain Margaret Thatcher was truly unresting and persevering. One of Thatcher’s most notable achievements, still in effect today, was the weakening of the trade unions. Furthermore, she convinced her party members and general British voters that she would put their hard-earned taxes to great use in often unpopular and controversial reforms in public services, whilst appeasing their fears about immigration and mistrust of everything in Europe by negotiating rebates and exclusions from the EU and imposing stronger border controls. That forced the other member states, particularly France, to effectively pay more to offset Britain’s rebate - an outcome that increased her popularity at home but made her even more unpopular and further alienated in Europe. Her efforts to introduce massive government deregulation and promoting individualistic instead of collective society, resulted in the fact that speculation and financial trading became more important to the economy than industry and manufacturing. Moreover, Thatcher style deregulation of the financial markets has contributed to, if not caused, many of today’s world problems: the irresponsible risk taking behavior of many leading banks as well as the inadequate governmental regulation of Wall Street, the City of London and other stock markets around the globe.

Nevertheless, despite all questionable or controversial Thatcherism policies, the Iron Lady altered the course of post-war Britain and Europe. As the leader of the Conservative Party, she consolidated a determined skepticism of European integration, setting the stage for the U.K.’s ongoing efforts to keep its distance from the European Union, making it more pro-US and anti-EU. She also liberalized the British economy and set a gold standard for Anglo-American relations, forging a close solid relationship between the two Superpowers. Perhaps most of all the United States recognized Thatcher as a Churchillian figure that stood alongside America in times of conflict and largely supported NATO and US foreign policy. Teamwork between London and Washington helped guide the course of the Cold War to a peaceful end, which was Thatcher’s most obvious achievement on the world stage. Clearly, she sought to change East/West relations based on both the western ideological reasons and clear economic agenda for growth through opening up new markets for trade among Britain, the USA, Europe and Russia.

Unsurprisingly, the Iron Lady remained a political force and government advisor in retirement. She continued to influence internal Conservative Party policies, and Thatcherism shaped even the priorities of the opposition Labor Party, which she had kept out of office for more than a decade. “Time” magazine named Thatcher one of the 100 most important people of the 20th century as well as the fourth-greatest British Prime Minister of the 20th century. In 2002, though some 20 years past her official resignation, she was still ranked 16th in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons.