Seizing the day or passing the baton? Power, illusion, and the British Empire

Some of the fierceness of the reaction of the United States to the foul attacks of 9/11 has often been ascribed to the inviolate condition of this great continental hegemon. Nothing could be further from the truth. In 1812, British forces occupied Washington and gleefully burnt down the White House. Further, Great Britain supported the South during the Civil War – or, more precisely, the British state supported the South, even though many of the Lancashire cotton workers most affected supported the North. Gladstone later apologized for this, but his predecessors had been positively keen to see the breakup of the Union. Very much in this spirit, the British state did all it could to stand in the way of American expansion to the west – not surprisingly, as a continental power would have had the capacity to gobble up Canada. In a nutshell, we have here a history of war, friction, and deeply opposed interests. But it is just as clear that peace has since broken out between these two powers. Great Britain and the United States fought together in many wars in the twentieth century, from the world wars to more varied conflicts – most obviously and recently in Iraq and Afghanistan, but just as importantly, if covertly, in Iran, when toppling Mohammad Mosaddeq. If the burning of the White House stands at one extreme, at the other is American reverence for Winston Churchill and the much-trumpeted mutual regard of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. So this is a case – perhaps, indeed, the case – of peaceful accommodation between a declining and a rising power. It has been thoroughly studied, with most scholars agreeing on a basic explanatory frame. We begin with the most recent account, that of Charles Kupchan, given that it offers the most powerful general model for understanding the relations, both violent and peaceful, between rising and established powers. Kupchan moves from considerations of the balance of power to assertions that stable peace has come to depend upon societal integration and cultural commonality. We offer mild critique. The dream of “Anglo-America” was and is far more British than American. This point can usefully be highlighted immediately.

Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.