ABSTRACT
A tumult of events since the end of the Cold War has unsettled the balance Britain has worked for over half a century to maintain in transatlantic relations. This chapter examines Britain's dilemma in trying to negotiate and reconcile two bridges far apart, the Atlantic and Euro bridges. It focuses on a particular pair of bridges that consist of the privileged relations Britain maintains with continental Europe and the 'special relationship' the country values with the United States. The main objective at the time was to enable Britain to operate in a mobile, forward fashion, "to go to the crisis, rather than have the crisis come to us." Whereas the relationship with the United States symbolizes the power aspirations of Britain, the relationship with Europe symbolizes that Britain's security depends on collective defense. Hence, the Atlantic bridge cannot be understood in isolation but as part of a strategy of building bridges to cover a more expansive network of security interests.
