Abstract
Anglo-American relations have traditionally been of considerable importance and an outstanding exemplar of internationally felt we-ness. One only needs to go back to their experience in World War Two and its legacy to appreciate how closely they often worked. A complex system of cooperation developed during and after the war not just at the highest political level, but also at institutional levels that often proved resilient when relations at the top became tense. Nowadays the impact of Brexit and the legacy of Trump could be so extensive that configurations in NATO could be transformed. But to know what transformation means here it is important to know what the change is from. In other words, we need an accurate appreciation of what it meant for Britain to be described as the most equal partner of the US in NATO, before we can assess how things might have changed or are changing.
Alan P. Dobson: Deceased
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Notes
- 1.
Report of the Committee of Three on Non-Military Cooperation in NATO. 13 December 1956. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_17481.htm. See also Milloy (2006).
- 2.
- 3.
Minutes of British and US Chiefs of Staff Meeting. 6 January 1952. TNA. CAB 21/3057.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
First Sea Lord Chief of Naval Staff to various CI Chiefs. 24 January 1952. ADM 205/85.
- 8.
- 9.
Memorandum of conversation between President Bush, British Defence Secretary Tom King, US Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, UK Ambassador Acland, Brent Scowcroft et al. 12 February 1991. George H. W. Bush Library. Scowcroft Papers. Presidential Correspondence File, box 2, folder: 91, 108–004.
- 10.
The Economist (7 November 2019). Emmanuel Macron warns Europe: NATO is becoming brain-dead. https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-warns-europe-nato-is-becoming-brain-dead.
- 11.
NATO 2030: United for a New Era. Analysis and Recommendations of the Reflection Group Appointed by the NATO Secretary General, 25 November 2020. https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2020/12/pdf/201201-Reflection-Group-Final-Report-Uni.pdf.
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Dobson, A.P. (2023). The Anglo-American Special Relationship and NATO: The Past and the Present as Indicators of What Might Come Next?. In: de Leonardis, M. (eds) NATO in the Post-Cold War Era. Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-06063-2_5
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