Thatcher’s US Policy I: The Diplomacy of Support

Abstract

Britain’s success in the Falklands War thrust foreign policy upon Thatcher and launched her international career, but neither would have been possible without US support. Haig’s mediation may have troubled the British, but the matériel assistance and intelligence information provided by the Pentagon and other US agencies greatly reduced the severity of the military challenge which confronted the British. Without it, their task would have been much harder and more costly. More importantly, had the Americans decided to oppose Britain’s recovery of the Islands, then the war would have been impossible and Thatcher’s political demise all but assured. That American support was eventually forthcoming is attributable to the Special Relationship which exists between the two countries. Britain and the US are allies, but the term suggests they are more than that. Precisely what, however, is a matter of some controversy.