The End of the ‘Special Relationship’? The Heath-Nixon Years in Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Heath-Nixon years, 1970–1974, have been widely characterised as marking a low point in Anglo-American relations, even the end of the so-called ‘special relationship’. Overall, historians and commentators have tended to point the finger at Edward Heath, the British prime minister. As a committed Europhile, Heath is said to have deliberately downgraded relations with Washington in pursuit of membership of the European Economic Community [EEC], making the old habits of transatlantic co-operation impossible. Drawing on material from both sides of the Atlantic, this analysis presents a different perspective. Far from marking a transformation of British foreign policy, Heath’s determination to join the EEC stood as part of a longstanding effort to reinvigorate Britain’s place in the world, including the alliance with Washington. Moreover, when it came to diplomatic relations, largely, it was the nature of policy-making under President Richard Nixon – assisted by his chief advisor, Henry Kissinger – that undermined the old patterns of co-operation. As the White House set out to transform international relations, overhaul the global economic order, and impose its Cold War rivalry on regional crises, London was left feeling impotent, marginalised, and even double-crossed – all of which fuelled the case for Europe.