COURTING A RELUCTANT ALLY - National Intelligence University

firmly believed that British policies would create a pan-Asian, anti-whitebacklash in the Far East. 73 Historian John Charmley probably best summarizedthe American view of British colonialism when he stated that the “veryspeed with which the Japanese overran the British Empire in the Far East convincedmany Americans that the British were not only imperialists, but bunglingimperialists.” 74Other Aspects of Wilsonian IdealismBesides anti-colonialism, other principles of Wilsonian idealism were a sourceof friction for the British, as well. They were, in fact, economic rivals of theAmericans, and they interpreted Wilsonian calls for increased free trade asextremely threatening and meant to consolidate and perpetuate the ascendancy ofthe U.S. in the post-World War I period. 75 British views on American anti-colonialismwere colored by resentment because American ascendancy was also coupledwith increasing American isolationism. Many resented a peace in Europethat they believed had been dictated to them by Wilson, yet when the time cameto enforce an unworkable treaty, the Americans had chosen a path of disengagement.76 In the minds of many British policymakers, Wilsonian idealism was ahollow concept and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain probably bestsummarized the prevailing view in England when he stated that “it is always bestand safest to count on nothing from the Americans but words.” 77Mesopotamia: Free Trade Advocacy and British ResentmentAn excellent example of the tensions created by the two countries’ differingviews on Wilsonian principles can be found in the State Department’s ForeignRelations of the United States series for 1920. Within three years of the war, theU.S. and the UK were engaged in a rather acrimonious dispute concerning theBritish mandate in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, and the access to the oil concessionsin that region. By the terms of the San Remo Agreement of 24 April1920, the British and French had received various mandates in the Middle Eastunder the provision that other countries would have fair and equal access to the73Aldrich, 124.74 Charmley, 54.75 Charmley, 13. For a concrete example of the economic rivalry and how it extended to theactions of the U.S. Navy and ONI, Jeffrey Dorwart relates a story concerning Captain Frank Hill,U.S. Naval Attaché in Brazil during the 1920s. He states that “[a]pparently, much of their intelligencework went toward counteracting British influence, including outbidding Vickers and Armstrongto win a lucrative contract for Bethlehem Steel to repair Brazilian battleships.” See Dorwart,Conflict of Duty, 137.76 Smith, Ultra-Magic Deals, 5-6.77 Charmley, 16.21