Georgetown University Press Counterinsurgency Wars and the Anglo-American Alliance: The Special Relationship on the Rocks

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 allies to be sure, national self-interest and domestic politics have often undercut their relationship. This book combines for the first time a history of the US-UK interaction during major counterinsurgency campaigns since 1945, from Palestine to Iraq and Afghanistan, with a critical examination of the widely perceived special relationship that has been tested during these frequently difficult, protracted, and costly conflicts. An assessment of each nation's respective internal political discussions and diplomatic exchanges about the other's conflicts reveals that in actuality there is only a thin layer of specialness at work in 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 work 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. Review a fasincating interpretation . . . well-documented and well-written-- "H-Diplo" Mumford offers a fresh look at the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom against the backdrop of some of the most politically trying of wars, counterinsurgencies. Readers will come away with a better understanding of how the specialness of that relationship varied, leveraged as it was by both parties in some very ordinary ways.--Antulio J. Echevarria II, Elihu Root Chair of Military Studies, US Army War College From the Back Cover 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. About the Author Andrew Mumford is an associate professor in the School of Politics and International Relations and codirector of the Centre for Conflict, Security and Terrorism, both at the University of Nottingham. He is the author of The Counter-Insurgency Myth: The British Experience of Irregular Warfare and Proxy Warfare and coeditor of two books.