May Interprets British Diplomacy As Break From U.S. Domination

"Britain's recent action in the Middle East, though shabby, might have salutary effects," according to Ernest R. May, assistant professor of History, "because it may restore some of the lustre to what has come to be called the crumbling empire."

May, whose special field is United States diplomatic history, went on to say, "The British Foreign Office has decided to act on what they consider their real international interest rather than on the traditional, social, and emotional ties between the U.S. and Great Britain."

Friendly Anglo-American relations have tended to have been taken for granted during the last century, according to May. These friendly relations have been based, with the exception of strategic alliances during the two world wars, on a rather vaguely defined ethnic identification.

Developing his thesis, he indicated that Britain, especially since the end of World War II, has tried regularly to gain sanction from the United States for her foreign policy. As examples of this shackled British thinking, he pointed to Israel in 1948, Iran in 1951 and the withdrawal of troops from Suez last year.

May felt that the end of this somewhat unrealistic situation between the United States and Great Britain is probably a healthy change.