Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance

The Special Relationship on the Rocks

Andrew Mumford

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781626164925
• eBook ISBN: 9781626164932
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Andrew Mumford challenges the notion of a “special relationship” between the United States and United Kingdom in diplomatic and military affairs, the most vaunted and, he says, exaggerated of associations in the post-1945 era. Though they are allies to be sure, national self-interest and domestic politics have often undercut their relationship.

This is the first book to combine a history of US-UK interaction during major counterinsurgency campaigns since 1945, from Palestine to Iraq and Afghanistan, with a critical examination of the so called special relationship that has been tested during these difficult, protracted, and costly conflicts. Mumford’s assessment of each nation’s internal political discussions and diplomatic exchanges reveals that in actuality there is only a thin layer of specialness at work in the wars that shaped the postcolonial balance of power, the fight against Communism in the Cold War, and the twenty-first-century “war on terror.” This book is especially timely given that the US-UK relationship is once again under scrutiny because of the Trump administration’s “America First” rhetoric and Britain's changing international relations as a result of Brexit. Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance will interest scholars and students of history, international relations, and security studies as well as policy practitioners in the field.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: The “Special Relationship”: Origins, Meaning, and Dynamics
• 1 Empires, Old and New: The Politics of Counterinsurgency
• 2 Anglo-American Military Culture: What Role for Counterinsurgency?
• 3 The Changing of the Guard in the Postwar World: Counterinsurgency in Palestine and the Creation of Israel
• 4 The Malayan Emergency: Changing America’s Asian Cold War
• 5 Mayhem in the Mediterranean: Counterinsurgency in Cyprus
• 6 Middle Eastern “Winds of Change”: Counterinsurgency in South Arabia
• 7 The Counterinsurgency Phoenix: Britain and America’s War in Vietnam
• 8 The Old Country: America and the Northern Irish “Troubles”
• 9 “Shoulder to Shoulder”: The War in Iraq
• 10 Into the Hornet’s Nest: The “Special Relationship” in Afghanistan
• Conclusion: The Asymmetrical Alliance: Anglo-American Relations Then and Now
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author