British Defence Research Articles

British Defence Policy

British Defence Policy

The Official Opposition View of British Defence Policy

The Official Opposition View of British Defence Policy

British imperial defence policy and the Australian

British imperial defence policy and the Australian

British Defence Policy

British Defence Policy

British defence policy: The long recessional

British defence policy: The long recessional

British Defence Research Examined

British Defence Research Examined

Skynet: the British defence satellite communications system

Skynet: the British defence satellite communications system

Britain's Future in World Affairs

Perhaps the most important statement about British foreign policy since World War n was made in the House of Commons by Prime Minister Harold Wilson on January 15 when he announced the winding up of British defence responsibilities in Asia by the end of 1971. Ostensibly this formed part of the cuts in government spending which were designed to make the most of the devaluation of the pound announced in November 1967. The 1967 defence review had, however, already envisaged the ending of Britain's east of Suez policy by 1975 and it was clear that the persisting balance-of-payments problem made the government's attempts to maintain this policy wholly unconvincing. Henceforward then, as Mr. Wilson said in his January statement, Britain would be predominantly a Mediterranean and European power, though with what he called a general military capability outside those areas. The British nuclear deterrent would be unaffected, though it was reasonable to doubt how independent this could be since, by the Nassau agreement of December 1962, Britain relied on the United States for the missiles, though not the warheads, for her four Polaris submarines. Theoretically, the 1955 agreement to share responsibilities with South Africa for defence in the waters round southern Africa remained in being, but it was seriously weakened by the government's decision in December 1967 to continue to respect the United Nations ban on the supply of arms to South Africa.

Imperial Defence without the Empire

Postwar British defence policy is an astonishing story of achievement and an instructive lesson in what moves peoples to sacrifice. In its ambition, it has much in common with the British decision (unexpected by so many) to confront and destroy Hitler. In its impact on the world, it is safe to say that nowhere else in this period were resources expended on the means of power to greater effect. The first decade after 1945 in Britain showed the priority of the political-military over the commercial at its height. Britain was a country which put political survival first: the accountants complained bitterly but they were overruled. It was a sharp reversal of 1935-38 when the accountants were still in charge and the political men the Churchills and Attlees were being overruled. After 1955, and especially after 1960, a commercial people slowly reverted to type. Not entirely symbolically, the chancellor of the exchequer gradually became deputy prime minister and the foreign secretary a relic of grander days. As has been customary with Britain for over two centuries, everyone is attributing this to her decline from some imagined omnipotence to something more appropriate to her size and position. But all that is happening is that Wilson is rediscovering what Chamberlain explained so patiently: that economic stability comes first, that the coat must be cut to the cloth, that harsh realities must be faced, that the trade figures are bad, and so on. The speeches of the late 1960s and late 1930s often use the same phrases (though of course financially things were very much worse in the 1930s) . In both cases, the phrases are concealing the fact that the men in power cannot see the point of military expenditure, that they cannot feel an urgency adequate to the

Unveiling British Defence Research

Unveiling British Defence Research

British Defence Policy and the Future of the Armed Forces

British Defence Policy and the Future of the Armed Forces

Arms without Empire: British Defence Role in the Modern World

Arms without Empire: British Defence Role in the Modern World

Book reviews

The Soviet Military and the Communist Party. By Roman Kolkowicz. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. 1967. $9.00. Juggernaut: A History of the Soviet Armed Forces. By Malcolm Mackintosh. London: Seeker & Warburg. 1967. 63s. French Foreign Policy Under De Gaulle. By Alfred Grosser. Translated by Lois Ames Pattison. Boston, Mass., and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company. 1967. $5.00. Arms Without Empire: British Defence in the Modern World. By Neville Brown. London: Penguin Books. 1967. 4s 6d. Arms Control and the Atlantic Alliance: Europe Faces Coming Policy Decisions. By Karl W. Deutsch. New York and London: John Wiley. 1967. US price not quoted. 45s. Security in Disarmament. Edited by Richard J. Barnet and Richard A. Falk. Princeton, N.J., and London: Princeton University Press and Oxford University Press. 1965 and 1967. $2.95 and 22s 6d. Economic Impact of the Vietnam War. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University, Center for Strategic Studies. Special Report Series No. 5. 1967. $2.95.

Reviews of Books

Abstract Abstract Brassey's Annual: The Armed Forces Year-Book 1967. Editors: Major-General J. L. Moulton, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E.; Brigadier C. N. Barclay, C.B.E., D.S.O.; Air Vice-Marshal W. M. Yool, C.B., C.B.E. (William Clowes & Sons, Ltd.) 84s. Jane's Fighting Ships, 1967–68. Edited by R. V. B. Black-man. (Sampson Low, Marston & Co.) 8 gns. Jane's Surface Skimmer Systems. Edited by Roy McLeavy. (Sampson Low, Marston & Co.) 2 gns. The Role of the Military in Under-developed Countries. Edited by John J. Johnson. (Princeton University Press. London: Oxford University Press.) 22s. 6d. The Inequality of States: A Study of the Small Power in International Relations. By David Vital. (Clarendon Press: Oxford University Press.) 30s. NATO and Europe. By André Beaufre. (Faber.) 28s. Arms without Empire: British Defence in the Modern World. By Neville Brown. (Penguin Books.) 4s. 6d. English Studies Series—5: Military Texts. By B. D. Graver with K. J. T. Hoile. (Oxford University Press.) 12s. 6d. A Short Guide to Clausewitz on War. Edited by Roger Ashley Leonard. (Weidenfeld & Nicolson.) 45s. Sea Warfare 1939–1945. By Captain John Creswell, R.N. (University of California Press. London: Cambridge University Press.) 64s. Heritage of Sea Power: The Story of Portsmouth. By F. W. Lipscomb. (Hutchinson.) 50s. The Beloved Little Admiral: Admiral of the Fleet the Hon. Sir Henry Keppel, G.C.B., O.M. By Vivian Stuart. (Robert Hale.) 42s. The British Army 1642–1970. By Brigadier Peter Young, D.S.O., M.C. (Kimber.) 70s. Townshend of Kut. By A. J. Barker. (Cassell.) 42s. Soldiers in the Air: The Development of Army Flying. By Brigadier P. W. Mead. (Ian Allan.) 42s. Best Army Stories. Edited by Andrew Graham. (Faber.) 21s. Flying Tales from ‘Blackwood’. Second Series. (William Blackwood.) 18s. Great Britain and the War of 1914–1918. By Sir Llewellyn Woodward. (Methuen.) 84s. Death of an ARMY: The First Battle of Ypres 1914. By Anthony Farrar-Hockley. (Arthur Barker.) 30s. 1940: The Fall of France. By General André Beaufre. (Cassell.) 42s. Guerrillas: A History and Analysis. By Arthur Campbell. (Arthur Barker.) 45s. Defeat in the East: The Mark of Mao Tse-tung on War. By Michael Elliott-Bateman. (Oxford University Press.) 40s. The Quicksand War: Prelude to Vietnam. By Lucien Bodard. (Faber.) 45s. The Israeli Campaign 1967. By Brigadier Peter Young, D.S.O., M.C. (Kimber.) 42s. India's Quest for Security: Defence Policies 1947–1965. By Lome J. Kavic. (University of California Press. London: Cambridge University Press.) 63s. Documents Relating to Anson's Voyage round the World 1740–1744. Edited by Glyndwr Williams, Ph.D. (Navy Records Society.) 50s. Napoleon in Russia. By Alan Palmer. (André Deutsch.) 45s. The First Afghan War 1838–1842. By J. A. Norris. (Cambridge University Press.) 80s. Remember Butler: The Story of Sir William Butler. By Edward McCourt. (Routledge & Kegan Paul.) 45s. Espionage and Subversion in an Industrial Society: An examination and philosophy of defence for management. By Peter Hamilton. (Hutchinson.) 50s.

The Dilemma of British Defence: The Imbalance between Commitments and Resources

The Dilemma of British Defence: The Imbalance between Commitments and Resources

British Defence Policy and Nuclear War, by Emanuel J. de Kadt ; The Politics of British Defense Policy, 1945-1962, by William P. Snyder

British Defence Policy and Nuclear War, <i>by Emanuel J. de Kadt ; </i> The Politics of British Defense Policy, 1945-1962, <i>by William P. Snyder</i>

Guarantees and Nuclear Spread

Ideas, like most other things, pass in and out of fashion. Once an idea has become unfashionable, it is difficult to get anyone to take it seriously again. This seems to have happened to the suggestion that security guarantees are useful means of controlling nuclear spread. While acknowledging that the guarantee concept is only partial solution, this article attempts to resuscitate it, at least for new round of discussion. high point of the vogue in guarantee proposals came about two years ago, following the first Chinese nuclear detonation. On 18 October 1964, President Johnson sought to reassure the international community by promising that The nations that do not seek national nuclear weapons can be sure that, if they need our strong support against some threat of nuclear blackmail, then they will have it.1 Two months later, British Defence Minister Healey assigned major priority to an AmericanBritish-French-Soviet agreement giving all non-nuclear nations a solemn and effective guarantee2 against nuclear blackmail or attack. But the American President has not since elaborated on his pledge,3 and there is no sign that the British Minister's proposal has seriously interested other governments. Before examining some of the misgivings about future applications of the guarantee concept, it may be advisable to consider debate over its relevance to the recent past. I have in mind the controversy over what if anything alliance policies in the last few years can tell us about the utility of anti-proliferation guarantees. Some critics insist that this utility is minimal. Pointing to the British, French and Chinese nuclear programmes, they infer that the extension of guarantees

Streamlining British defence

Streamlining British defence

Book reviews

Maritime Strategy: A Study of British Defence Problems. By Peter Gretton. London: Cassell. 1965. 36s. 1966 Naval Review. Edited by Frank Uhlig, Jr. Annapolis, Md.: United States Naval Institute. 1965. No price quoted. The Attack Submarine: A Study in Strategy. By Robert E. Kuenne. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. 1965. $6.00. 45s. Components of Defense Policy. Edited by Davis B. Bobrow. Chicago: Rand McNally. 1965. $3.95. Legal Aspects of Arms Control Verification in the United States. By Dennis S. Aronowitz. Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.: Oceana. 1965. $6.50. United States Military Assistance. By Harold A. Hovey. New York and London: Praeger and Pall Mall. 1965 and 1966. $15.00. 105s.

Maritime Strategy: A Study of British Defence Problems

Journal Article Maritime Strategy: A Study of British Defence Problems Get access Maritime Strategy: A Study of British Defence Problems. By Peter Gretton. London: Cassell. 1965. 210 pp. Bibliog. Index. 36s. A. D. Nicholl A. D. Nicholl Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar International Affairs, Volume 42, Issue 3, July 1966, Pages 483–484, https://doi.org/10.2307/2612200 Published: 01 July 1966