‘At The Top Table’: British Elites’ Perceptions of the UK’s International Position, 1950–91

Abstract

Since the end of the Second World War, Britain’s global status has been a subject of intense debate. When the former US Secretary of State, Dean Acheson, famously stated in 1962 that ‘Great Britain has lost an Empire and has not yet found a role’,¹ he was suggesting the country should scale back its expectations of a world position, not rely upon a relationship with the US to project power and, importantly, reconcile itself to being just another major European state. Echoes of such views can be found in the pronouncements of French President Charles de Gaulle when he vetoed UK entry to the European Economic Community, in 1963 and again in 1967. The General believed that Britain was too close to Washington, not sufficiently European in outlook and too interested in maintaining a global presence. Over the decades such views have been repeated by others right down to the present day and, in all likelihood, will continue for some time to come. But, what did the British elite — politicians, policy-makers, civil servants and diplomats — think of this debate? This chapter will examine the question by utilising group oral testimonies, called ‘witness seminars’, of those who were at the heart of the UK policy-making elite as collected by the Institute of Contemporary British History (ICBH). The chapter will focus on three distinct but closely interrelated themes which consistently and identifiably run through the testimonies in these seminars: the internal debates about the UK’s global position; Anglo-American relations; and relations with Europe.