The Anglo-American Military Relationship

Abstract

Abstract This book argues that Anglo-American military cooperation makes an important contribution to the ‘Special Relationship’ and that this has frequently been neglected in the literature. It uses a conceptual lens of historical institutionalism to provide insights into how military doctrine, practical cooperation, and narratives underpin the way the British military have worked with their American counterparts in the post-Cold War era. The British have found military cooperation with US armed forces difficult to achieve because of their greater size and strength. This pattern of cooperation has been occurring within a dynamic environment in which the nature of warfare has been evolving. New digital technologies have been transforming the battlespace and the post-Cold War period has enabled the two sides to intervene in emergencies where the use of force has been employed in highly selective ways. The US and the UK have been called upon to fashion new military doctrines to address peacebuilding and nation-building tasks and prepare to encounter adversaries who pursued asymmetric military strategies. Aligning with the US military has generated risks as well as benefits for UK armed forces. It has required the UK to sustain a breadth of capabilities and to engage in tasks that have weighed heavily upon its resources. It has led British decision-makers to look at global problems through a lens conditioned by US priorities. This has led to tensions between the two sides that are explored in the book.