The Special Relationship - C.J. Bartlett

This series explores key issues in world history since 1945, in volumes focused on nations, regions, themes and processes.;This volume provides an analytical account of Anglo-American relations since the World War II, examining just how "special" that relationship has been. The theme is an important one for world politics and international relations, as well as for the two nations themselves.;It shows that it was the threat of common enemies rather than identical aims or attitudes that kept the US and the UK as allies.;Through the eyes of contemporary American and British policy-makers, the book reconstructs the changing official perception of "the special relationship", and analyzes what respective governments actually hoped to get out of it.;It concludes that, there is nothing instinctive or automatic about the relationship - it is an alliance of self-interest not sentiment, based on impermanent foundations.;This is an undergraduate text for courses in modern history, politics, international relations and American studies. Interesting reading also for journalists, diplomats, politicians and the informed general reader.