Imperial Networks, Imperial Defence, and Perceptions of American Influence on the British Empire in the Interwar Period: The Case of the 27th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres

Abstract

The role of influence — what constitutes it, how it works and who exercises it — is the subject of much research on British foreign and defence policy making in the twentieth century. This article introduces a possible new character to the interwar British imperial defence policy making system, the 27th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres. The focus of the article is on the Imperial, as well as the British, nature of that system, emphasizing the informal nature of the information flows which influenced and created strategic policy. As well, the article places the Anglo-American strategic relationship at the heart of the imperial defence system, showing the connectivity required within the system to deal with issues presented by the growing importance of America to the British system of Imperial Defence, not only in the Atlanticist context, but in the global/imperial sphere.