ABSTRACT

Introduction Throughout the postwar period, Britain's global and European roles in security have coexisted alongside each other. Europe has been the vital theatre for British interests: Britain has been consistent in seeking to preserve a balance of power on the continent and preventing the preponderance of any single state. I But the European role has never been the sole focus of Britain's defence effort because the UK continued to regard itself as more than just a European power. Consistent with this, the UK expected its European allies to give it credit for the broader security obligations that it sustained during the Cold War, claiming as it did that it bore these burdens for the benefit of the West.