Undergraduate Course: A 'Special Relationship'?: US-UK Relations From World War II to the War on Terror (HIST10377)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will allow students to develop a thorough understanding of the often celebrated, derided, and misunderstood US-UK 'special relationship'. By exploring key periods and themes in the relationship, it offers and insight into the terrain of American-British relations from 1945 to 2003. |
| Course description |
Politicians, diplomats, and journalists on both sides of the Atlantic frequently refer to the 'special relationship' between the United States and the United Kingdom. However, is there really a 'special relationship'? If there is one, what form does it take and what influence does it have? Does such a relationship only exist because of specific circumstances and interpersonal relationships? This course examines the 'special relationship' from World War to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, analysing key moments of Anglo-American friendship and tension. From Lend-Lease to the Skybolt Crisis, from Suez to the War on Terror, this course will allow students to develop a thorough understanding of the often celebrated, derided, and misunderstood 'special relationship'.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Administrator to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 50 3780). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course ** |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material;
- Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
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Reading List
Ashton, Nigel, Eisenhower, Macmillan and the Problem of Nasser : Anglo-American Relations and Arab Nationalism, 1955-59 (Basingstoke: Macmillan in association with King's College London, 1996)
Baylis, John, Anglo-American Defence Relations 1939-1980, 2nd edition (London: Macmillan, 1984)
Clark, Ian, Nuclear Diplomacy and the Special Relationship: Britain's Deterrent and America, 1957-1962 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994)
Dickie, John, "Special" No More: Anglo-American Relations, Rhetoric and Reality (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1994)
Dumbrell, John, A Special Relationship: Anglo-American Relations in the Cold War and After (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 2001)
Ellis, Sylvia (ed.), Historical Dictionary of Anglo-American Relations (Lanham, MD: Scarecrow 2009)
Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodri, In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western Intelligence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013)
McGarr, Paul M., The Cold War in South Asia: Britain, the United States and the Indian Subcontinent, 1945¿1965 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Maddock, Shane J., Nuclear Apartheid: The Quest for American Atomic Supremacy from World War II to the Present (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010)
Ovendale, Ritchie, Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998)
Powaski, Ronald E, Entangling Alliance: The United States and European Security, 1950-1993 (Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994)
Richardson, Louise, When Allies Differ: Anglo-American Relations During the Suez and Falklands Crises (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 1996)
Rossbach, Niklas H., Heath, Nixon and the Rebirth of the Special Relationship: Britain, the US and the EC, 1969-74 (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009)
Svendsen, Adam D.M., Intelligence Cooperation and the War on Terror: Anglo-American Security Relations after 9/11 (London: Routledge, 2010)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The transferable skills for this course will consist of the following:
- Developing the students' ability to organize and lead meetings through taking control of seminar discussions on selected weeks
- Developing the ability to express complex arguments through giving oral presentations on selected weeks
- Developing student competency with IT resources and developing the necessary skills to conduct thoughtful and effective independent research
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| Keywords | Special Relationship |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Malcolm Craig
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Alexandra Adam
Tel: (0131 6)50 3767
Email: |
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