Summary:
This paper examines certain elements of the British diplomatic planning efforts during and after the Second World War. It focuses on two moments in particular—the creation of the United Nations Organization in 1945 and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949—and highlights certain key takeaways. First, officials in the period not only valued but prioritised long-term planning, seeing it as a way to be ‘the master, and not the victim, of events.’ Next, first-order principles and first-order assumptions, assessed in the context of pressing contemporary challenges, often served as the conceptual starting point for strategy. Finally, there was an underlying approach to British grand strategy which held that the country’s interests—as well as its regional and international influence—rest in its ability to lead through larger political, economic and military institutions.
