Joe McCarthy
02-16-2012, 09:42 PM
Regarding the near death of the special relationship between Britain and the US during the crisis in Bosnia in the 90s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship#Major.2C_George_H._W._Bush_an d_Clinton
A genuine crisis in transatlantic relations blew up over Bosnia.[121] London and Paris resisted relaxation of the UN arms embargo,[122] and discouraged US escalation,[123] arguing that arming the Muslims or bombing the Serbs could worsen the bloodshed and endanger their peacekeepers on the ground.[124] US Secretary of State Warren Christopher's campaign to lift the embargo was rebuffed by Major and President Mitterrand in May 1993.[122] After the so-called 'Copenhagen ambush' in June 1993, where Clinton 'ganged up' with Chancellor Kohl to rally the European Community against the peacekeeping states, Major was said to be contemplating the death of the special relationship.[125] The following month the United States voted at the UN with non-aligned countries against Britain and France over lifting the embargo.[126]
By October 1993 Christopher was bristling that Washington policy makers had been too 'Eurocentric', and declared that Western Europe was 'no longer the dominant area of the world'.[122] The US ambassador to London demurred, insisting it was far too early to put a 'tombstone' over the special relationship.[124] A senior US State Department official described Bosnia in the spring of 1995 as the worst crisis with the British and French since Suez.[127] By the summer US officials were doubting whether NATO had a future.[127]
The nadir had now been reached, and, along with NATO enlargement and the Croatian offensive in 1995 that opened the way for NATO bombing, the strengthening Clinton-Major relationship was later credited as one of three developments that saved the Western alliance.[127] The president acknowledged: 'John Major carried a lot of water for me and for the alliance over Bosnia. I know he was under a lot of political pressure at home, but he never wavered. He was a truly decent guy who never let me down. We worked really well together, and I got to like him a lot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Relationship#Major.2C_George_H._W._Bush_an d_Clinton
A genuine crisis in transatlantic relations blew up over Bosnia.[121] London and Paris resisted relaxation of the UN arms embargo,[122] and discouraged US escalation,[123] arguing that arming the Muslims or bombing the Serbs could worsen the bloodshed and endanger their peacekeepers on the ground.[124] US Secretary of State Warren Christopher's campaign to lift the embargo was rebuffed by Major and President Mitterrand in May 1993.[122] After the so-called 'Copenhagen ambush' in June 1993, where Clinton 'ganged up' with Chancellor Kohl to rally the European Community against the peacekeeping states, Major was said to be contemplating the death of the special relationship.[125] The following month the United States voted at the UN with non-aligned countries against Britain and France over lifting the embargo.[126]
By October 1993 Christopher was bristling that Washington policy makers had been too 'Eurocentric', and declared that Western Europe was 'no longer the dominant area of the world'.[122] The US ambassador to London demurred, insisting it was far too early to put a 'tombstone' over the special relationship.[124] A senior US State Department official described Bosnia in the spring of 1995 as the worst crisis with the British and French since Suez.[127] By the summer US officials were doubting whether NATO had a future.[127]
The nadir had now been reached, and, along with NATO enlargement and the Croatian offensive in 1995 that opened the way for NATO bombing, the strengthening Clinton-Major relationship was later credited as one of three developments that saved the Western alliance.[127] The president acknowledged: 'John Major carried a lot of water for me and for the alliance over Bosnia. I know he was under a lot of political pressure at home, but he never wavered. He was a truly decent guy who never let me down. We worked really well together, and I got to like him a lot.