Introduction - The Approach Taken: Why Britain, France and the United States? 1. The Anglo-Saxons and the French: The build-up to the First World War 2. The Allies During the First World War and Paris Peace Conference 3. Difficult Relations in the 1920s - of Reparations, Debts and 'Rumo(u)rs of War' 4. France, Britain and the United States in the 1930s until the Fall of France 5. Conclusion: Britain, France and the United States in 1940
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Why is France so often relegated to the background in studies of international relations? This book seeks to redress this balance, exploring the relationship between the United States, United Kingdom and France, and its wider impact on the theory and practice of international relations. Why is France so often neglected in the study of international relations? This book seeks to redress this balance, providing an in-depth insight into the relationship between the two Anglo-Saxon Powers, the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), and France from 1900 to the Fall of France in 1940. Drawing on a range of sources and archival material, Williams links the evolution of this complex relationship to the parallel evolution of the study and practice of international relations and suggests that the Anglo-Saxon bias within international relations has obscured the vital contribution made by France to our thinking about the subject. The differing reaction in France, the UK and the USA over the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq shows just how contemporary a topic this is, and its continued relevance to global politics
This fascinating volume asks important questions about the development of International Relations as a field of study since the early twentieth century, focusing on the three main Western democracies - America, Britain and France. It is to be particularly welcomed for the way in which it fuses a profound understanding of both History and International Relations, showing that 'IR' itself has a history - one that was largely shaped by changing global realities.' - John W. Young, University of Nottingham, UK 'A very original piece of research about three crocodiles living in the same swamp, where friendship, distrust and rivalry are a daily routine. This fascinating story is recounted by Andrew Williams who combines his talents of historian, political scientist and IR scholar to good effect.' - Bertrand Badie, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), France 'By bringing France back into the story of the West as political project, Williams makes a seminal contribution to the study of transatlantic security relations, one that will be welcomed not only by his fellow diplomatic historians, but also by political scientists and others with an interest in international relations theory and foreign policy analysis. - David Haglund, Queen's University, Canada 'Williams offers a much-needed corrective to the assumption that French economic, political and strategic ideas had little or no influence on modern IR theory and practice, he also provides a new lens through which we can gain a greater understanding of the deeper intellectual currents that helped shape and define the twentieth century world.' - David B. Woolner, the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and co-editor of FDR's World: War Peace and Legacies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) Andrew Williams has written an important and illuminating study of the trans-Atlantic intellectual currents that have shaped contemporary theorising about the nature of international politics. Blending the history and theory effortlessly, he has demonstrated that French political philosophy played a fundamental role in both the origins and evolution of international thought in the West. Williams provides a challenging new perspective on both the history of Franco-British-American relations and the emergence of international relations as a distinct discipline. - Peter Jackson, University of Glasgow, UK
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Andrew J. Williams is Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, UK. His main research interests include international history, and international conflict analysis. His most recent books include International History and International Relations (with Amelia Hadfield and Simon Rofe, 2012) and he is the co-editor of The International History Review
