Friday with Friends!

The British drawdown from Singapore, Malaysia, and the Arabian Peninsula during the Cold War
William D. James

Why did Britain withdraw from its major military bases in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Arabian Peninsula midway through the Cold War? Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes that the drawdown was a “mistake”, taken rashly in January 1968 as pro-European cabinet members seized on a financial crisis to end the UK’s role “East of Suez”. This interpretation – that retrenchment was the result of Britain’s weak economic position and domestic politics – aligns with much of the historiography.

In this talk, which draws on a new book on British foreign and defence policy, that view will be challenged. Based on extensive archival research, William D. James offers an alternative explanation on the timing and motives for the drawdown. He finds the strategic rationale for retaining a permanent presence East of Suez dissolved during the 1960s, as policymakers realised that large military bases were consuming more security than they could generate.

About the speaker

William D. James is an Assistant Professor in Strategic Studies at RSIS, NTU Singapore. William earned a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Between his doctoral studies and joining NTU, he held full-time research fellowships at MIT’s Security Studies Program, Harvard Kennedy School’s
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, and the Centre for Grand Strategy at King’s College London. William’s first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, was published with Oxford University Press in early 2024.


^{Image: Cover, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony. Oxford University Press, 2024.}

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