From estrangement to interdependence: British-US nuclear policy from 1945 to 1962.

The United Kingdom's government, whether Conservative or Labour, took some years to adjust itself to the reality that their country was no longer an equal partner of the two emerging superpowers after 1945, as it had previously been at the Conferences of Teheran, Yalta, or Potsdam. With the help of a nuclear arm, though, and with the assistance of the US, British pride was salvaged. The UK might not be one of the superpowers, but it did acquire the status of being the most important US ally in the Cold War during the 1950s and 1960s. Based on a significant number of hitherto unexplored (and formerly secret) documents, this essay explores how the US-UK alliance was to a significant degree cemented by an agreement between the two countries regarding the stationing and control over nuclear arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]