Talleyrand and England, 1792-1838: A Reinterpretation

Talleyrand fascinated his contemporaries and later historians alike on account of his wit, style, and epigrams, and perhaps even his policies. Talleyrand drifted across the Channel many times, and so did his policy towards Britain. This article examines his mission to London, 1792-94, and his later attitude towards Britain during the Napoleonic and Restoration periods. In so doing it seeks to demythologise Talleyrand's role as the founder of the Entente Cordiale. His policy, like the Entente itself, was based on ideals rather than realities.     

Britain and Japan: Long-Range Images, 1900-52

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed in 1902 was revised substantially in 1905 and 1911. It survived the First World War and did not lapse until 1923. For two decades, it enabled Britain to withdraw its navy from East Asia, leaving its commercial interests to the protection of Japan. Meanwhile it enabled Japan to expand its influence in Korea and China. There was not an immediate breach of the alliance, but interests clashed in China in the difficult world of economic collapse in the 1930s. When they failed to come to an accommodation, Japan declared war on Britain in 1941. After the war, Britain shared with the United States the task of policing the military occupation of Japan. But when that occupation came to an end in 1952 during the anxious days of the Korean war, the vast majority of Japanese believed that their country's future rested with Washington.     

Negotiating At Cross-Purposes: Sino-American Ambassadorial Talks, 1961-68

Previous studies on the Sino-American ambassadorial talks have underestimated the efficacy of the negotiations from 1961 to 1968. New documentation from both U.S. and Chinese sources shows that both Washington and Beijing viewed the Warsaw channel as vitally important in managing the delicate relationship and made every effort to keep it going. Based on these new sources, this article analyzes the context of the Sino-American talks in the 1960s, the major issues discussed, maneuvers, rhetoric and follow-up actions. It concludes that the Warsaw channel was a useful facilitator for managing Sino-American relations in the turbulent 1960s, an important part of the mutual learning process, and it shortened the learning curve for the future policy makers.     

'Arming the key battleground': German rearmament, 1950-55

Saki Dockrill, Britain's Policy for West German Rearmament, 1950-1955, Cambridge Studies in International Relations No 13, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1991, £27.50.

Thomas Alan Schwartz, America's Germany. John J. McCloy and the Federal Republic of Germany, Cambridge, USA, Harvard University Press, 1991, £23.95.     

'Unfortunate Arabia': The United States, Great Britain and Yemen, 1955-63

As it emerged from a long, self-imposed diplomatic isolation after 1955 and then plunged into revolution and civil war in 1962, Yemen confronted its Arab neighbours, the United States, and Great Britain with difficult political challenges. This study of Anglo-American diplomacy concerning Yemen in the late 1950s and early 1960s reveals the very different British and American interests and priorities in Arabia at the height of the Cold War and underscores the different tactics employed by each nation in pursuit of its regional goals. It also points out the strikingly different attitudes of officials in Washington and London to the phenomenon of Arab nationalism. Further, it highlights the importance of stability in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula to US and British strategies for ensuring the uninterrupted flow of Persian Gulf petroleum to the West. Finally, this examination of events in southwest Arabia demonstrates how traditional rivalries and animosities in the region shaped the conditions under which the United States and Britain attempted to pursue their interests there.     

Eisenhower, arms control and disarmament: United States diplomatic documents, 1958-60

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-60: Volume III, Microfiche Supplement, National Security Policy; Arms Control and Disarmament, Washington, DC: Department of State, 1998.