ABSTRACT
Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race dinners are engaging and nostalgic rituals for the narrow group of Americans with old ties to those universities. Aside from good food and drink and appropriate toasts, they usually feature a British and an American speaker. For Britain, the entry into Europe is unresolved; its balance of payments presents a nagging, dangerous problem. In 1944 it moved from senior to junior partner in that war, with a maturity and poise that few nations could muster—and those who closely observed the process will never cease to admire. Despite balance of the payments burdens, Britain is quietly there in many of the multilateral arrangements which support progress in the developing continents. And Britain took its share of the postwar shocks to international order—from its role in the Berlin airlift down through the protracted Malayan campaign and the Malaysian confrontation.
