COURTING A RELUCTANT ALLY - National Intelligence University

Chapter 2U.S.-UK RELATIONS, 1914-1935:FROM COOPERATION TO COMPETITIONThe basis of friendship between the two great English-speaking peoplesis rivalry and independence of each other, and these are the really trueand lasting bases of all friendships. The instant the condition of dependencearises between two equals the essence of friendship is lost....Thereis no necessity for an alliance between Great Britain and the UnitedStates, and there probably never will be one, but, in effect, it exists, ormust exist, through conditions which are arising in the world and whichwill hereafter necessitate that the two countries will stand together; otherwisethey may fall together.Captain Albert P. Niblack, USN, “Forms of governmentin relation to their efficiency for war,” ProceedingsThe Historical ContextThe quote above, written by the U.S. Director of Naval Intelligence followingWorld War I, was both descriptive and prescient. While the alliance thatwould form between the U.S. and the UK between 1935 and 1945 would be oneof the closest and most enduring the world has ever known, there were many inthe U.S. who were far more focused on the rivalry that existed between the twostates. Niblack’s main argument concerned the commonalites and superiority ofthe U.S. and British forms of government and, while the development of theFascist states of Europe and Asia was still years away, he correctly saw that itwas the common values shared by the American and British people that wouldeventually overcome the tensions between the two countries. 54 What were themain sources of tension and why were they so significant in the inter-warperiod, particularly to the naval officer corps in both countries? First, even withthe war experience behind them, many in the U.S. and the UK had little firsthandknowledge about each other and their perceptions of one another were rifewith stereotypes and misconceptions. Second, while the seeds of naval operationaland intelligence cooperation were planted during the period of the GreatWar, many U.S. naval officers saw the Royal Navy as their principal rival andthe British felt threatened by a U.S. policy committed to building a “Navy secondto none.” Third, Great Britain was seen by many in the U.S. as representingcolonialism, a practice most Americans despised, despite the fact that the U.S.54 Albert P. Niblack, CAPT, USN, “Forms of government in relation to their efficiency for war,”Proceedings 46 (September 1920): 1402-1430.15