“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world … Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.”
On April 19th, 1775, shots were exchanged at Lexington and Concord, beginning America’s war for independence from Great Britain. The following year, the thirteen American colonies declared their independence from the mother country in 1776, with the British recognition of this independence coming some years later in 1783. The United States would again fight against the British Empire, in the American “War of 1812” – which actually ended in 1815. Britain would again contemplate a war with the United States during the later American Civil War – although, fortunately, this was narrowly averted by the Abraham Lincoln administration. (More about that here.) Thus, relations between the United States and the British Empire have not always been so amicable. In both of these wars, we had been allied with France, even though we had also fought the intervening Quasi-War with the French on the high seas. Later on, America was allied with both the British and the French, during the First and Second World Wars. Which of these two nations, if any, is our greatest ally? This is the question that I will focus on today.
Battle of New Orleans, 1815 – the last major battle between the British and the Americans
FDR and Churchill aboard the HMS Prince of Wales – Atlantic Charter, 1941
In 1952, Britain became the third nation to get the atomic bomb
The British Empire ruled many areas that have since become fully independent – or, at least, quasi-independent. These included Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These nations are still part of the British Commonwealth today, something that distinguishes them from the United States. Nonetheless, I believe that the United States is still culturally British today, as are the three other former colonies mentioned here. Again, we were allied with all of the above-mentioned nations during the First and Second World Wars. Many British folks today are glad that the United States, rather than Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union, was the first to get the atomic bomb during World War II. (More about that here.) But, sadly, the American nuclear monopoly ended, when the Russians became the second nation to get the atomic bomb in 1949. However, the British then became the third nation to get the atomic bomb in 1952. This is the biggest reason why the British Isles themselves (excluding Ireland) may still remain a more important ally than Canada, Australia, or New Zealand – which, so far, do not have any nuclear weapons of their own. Incidentally, I believe that it was a mistake for President Eisenhower to abandon the British during the Suez Crisis of 1956 – allowing the British, not to mention the French, to then decline as world powers. (But that’s a subject for another post.)
The “Hurricane” explosion in Western Australia, 1952 – Britain’s first test of an atomic device
The French got nuclear weapons in 1960, saying they could be fired “in all directions”
The Suez Crisis also affected France, which became the fourth nation to get nuclear weapons in 1960. Charles de Gaulle, the French hero of World War II, was then the President of France. But, in November 1967, there was an article by the French Chief of the General Staff (inspired by de Gaulle) in the Revue de la Défense Nationale. As Wikipedia puts it, “It was stated that the French nuclear force should be capable of firing ‘in all directions’—thus including even America as a potential target. This surprising statement was intended as a declaration of French national independence” (Source: Their page on “Charles de Gaulle,” section on “Fourth nuclear power”). Thus, the French are somewhere in between the British Commonwealth on the one hand, and the Russians and the Chinese on the other. That is, they were closer to us than were the Russians and the Chinese, but further from us than were the British Commonwealth nations. The French, at least sometimes, are still our allies today. But their conceptions of liberty would seem somewhat different from our own, as the disastrous French Revolution of 1789 would seem to show. Some of our Founding Fathers (strangely) were fans of the French Revolution, but others were against it – as I show here. Regardless, the French ways of seeing the world … may be why certain British Commonwealth nations (such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) are still more important allies for us than the French. And, if we ever owed a debt to France from their assistance during the American Revolution, it was paid twice over during the First and Second World Wars, when we liberated France from German oppression both times. Nonetheless, the favor of the French is still worth courting today wherever possible. But getting back to the Cold War period.
Charles de Gaulle, the French hero of World War II, who later became President of France
The British share our values, to a degree that the other nuclear powers do not
In 1964, the communist Chinese became the fifth nation to get nuclear weapons. Some today (such as Barack Obama) actually romanticize the communist Chinese, saying that their infrastructure is “vastly superior” to ours (see the video record of his comments here). But the record of contemporary China shows the true horrors of their system of government, and the record of the Maoist period (if anything) is even worse. Moreover, their threats on Hong Kong, Macau, and especially Taiwan show their continuing expansionist intent. Thus, people trust and “romanticize” the Chinese at their own peril. Similar problems would seem to apply to the romanticizing of the Russians, the North Koreans, and most parts of the contemporary Islamic world. Our only reliable ally in the Middle East is Israel, which may be a subject for another post. Israel’s military has some real power today, and they have defended themselves against local threats in the Middle East. But the geopolitical importance of Britain is still more important today. Moreover, the British have common values with us, such as liberty, which go back to the thirteenth-century Magna Carta. In the seventeenth century, they also protected freedom through the Petition of Right, the Habeas Corpus Act, and the English Bill of Rights. This was tested during such events as that latter century’s “English Civil War.” This is the other reason why we now remain closer to the British Commonwealth nations than we have been to the French. That is, the British Commonwealth nations share our values, to a degree that these other nations do not. This is why the British are still our most important allies, and I hope that they will always remain such.
Magna Carta replica and display, in the rotunda of the United States Capitol
Our treaties with the British have expiration dates, and can thus be re-negotiated if need be
It is true that America’s first president, George Washington, recommended against “permanent alliances” with any portion of the foreign world. This is why we never formed permanent alliances with the French, who proved themselves ready to abandon us during the Quasi-War – and even at the end of the American Revolution itself. (More about that here.) But, fortunately, George Washington also said that we may safely trust to “temporary alliances” for extraordinary emergencies. I would imagine that France, the United Kingdom, and the other British Commonwealth nations feel the same way about both permanent alliances and temporary alliances. That is why our treaties with them have expiration dates, and can be discarded by either party once the expiration date arrives. But all of our nations have since found it expedient to renew these alliances, for the protection of the West against tyrannical (and expansionist) regimes. With some exceptions, these alliances have since helped to contain communism during the Cold War – for example, by preventing further Soviet expansion into Europe. We cannot rely on any alliances with India or Pakistan, the former South Asian colonies of Britain that now have nuclear weapons. With some exceptions like Israel, our most reliable allies today tend to be in the West, and particularly in the English-speaking West.
Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, in the Oval Office – Washington, D.C. (1988)
Conclusion: The British remain our most important allies today
The French have since given way to socialism, as have many parts of the contemporary British Commonwealth. Even the British Isles themselves have since had some experience with socialism. But even Labour Party prime ministers like Tony Blair have valued their military alliances with the United States, which is why British troops then joined us in the War on Terror under his watch. They had also joined us in the earlier Korean War (Britain’s only full-scale war against the communists), and in the Persian Gulf War. We continue to depend upon the British today, just as they continue to depend on us. That is why we need to prioritize our alliances with them, for as long as their values stay aligned with ours. Either side can re-negotiate these agreements later, if circumstances seem to either side to be warranting it. But, for the time being, the British continue to be our most important allies. To paraphrase Casablanca, the world wars were the beginning of a “beautiful friendship,” and I hope that this friendship may endure forever.
“It is not given to us to peer into the mysteries of the future. Still, I avow my hope and faith, sure and inviolate, that in the days to come the British and American peoples will for their own safety and for the good of all walk together side by side in majesty, in justice, and in peace.”
– Winston Churchill, in the ending of a Speech to a joint session of the United States Congress, Washington, D.C. (26 December 1941)
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