ABSTRACT
Economic trends coalesced with Britain's shifting scrategic interests: the new world dominated by the superpowers (the United States and the Soviet Union) increasingly exposed the milit ary redundancy of colonial empires. The possession of a nuclear capability, nor an empire, was clearl y the modern means to military greatness. Under this argument, the Briti sh were not kicked out of empire by the force of colonial protest. Rather, imperial withdrawal followed on logicall y from the reassessments and recalculations of politicians, officials, military strategists, industriali sts and financiers in the metropole 12; 11; 12).
