The Anglo-American military relationship: arms across the ocean

Rees, Wyn

Abstract

This book focuses on Anglo-American military cooperation since the end of the Cold War. It argues that military cooperation has been an important source of ballast underpinning the broader ‘Special Relationship’. This cooperation has been relatively neglected in the academic literature. For the British armed services to work alongside a superpower, in both peacetime and conflict, has been a challenging task and it has required them to invest considerable effort. Anglo-American military cooperation has taken place within a dynamic strategic context in which the nature of conflict has been evolving. British armed forces have engaged with their American allies not only in high intensity warfare, but also in developing military doctrines to address insurgency, peace enforcement and nation-building tasks. Working so closely with the US military has generated risks as well as benefits for Britain’s armed forces. It has led them to engage in tasks that have weighed heavily upon their resources and has resulted in numerous tensions between the two sides.

This study looks at the military relationship through the conceptual lens of historical institutionalism in the belief that this helps to explain how cooperation has been made durable. The book is based upon an extensive series of interviews that have been conducted with senior officers from all branches of the British armed forces.

Citation

Rees, W. (2024). The Anglo-American military relationship: arms across the ocean. Oxford University Press

• Book Type: Authored Book
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: May 2, 2023
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISBN: 9780198884620
• Keywords: Anglo-American Relations, Special Relationship, Defence
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/20277083
• Publisher URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-anglo-american-military-relationship-9780198884620?cc=gb&lang=en&#
• Contract Date: Feb 5, 2023