CAB129-53 — Page 7

Page 7

Printed for the Cabinet. June 1952

The circulation of this paper has been strictly limited. It is issued

for the personal use of

Su Norman Brook

TOP SECRET

Copy No. 27

C (52) 202

18th June, 1952

CABINET

BRITISH OVERSEAS OBLIGATIONS

MEMORANDUM BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The object of this paper is to consider the tasks to which the United Kingdom is committed overseas and to examine where if anywhere our responsibilities can be reduced so as to bring them more into line with our available resources.

2. An attempt has been made to estimate the cost of our overseas commit- ments. Certain limited figures are available which give an indication of the order of magnitude involved, and these are attached as an Annex. But it is impossible to give precise figures of the real cost of maintaining any individual commitment, or lo quantify the many intangible factors in the problem.

Basic Factors

3. The foreign policy of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom is determined by certain fundamental factors:-

(a) The United Kingdom has world responsibilities inherited from several

hundred years as a great Power.

(b) The United Kingdom is not a self-sufficient economic unit.

(c) No world security system exists, and the United Kingdom with the rest of the non-Communist world, is faced with an external threat.

4. The essence of a sound foreign policy is to ensure that a country's strength is equal to its obligations. If this is not the case, then either the obligations must be reduced to the level at which resources are available to maintain them, or a greater share of the country's resources must be devoted to their support. It is becoming clear that rigorous maintenance of the presently-accepted policies of Her Majesty's Government at home and abroad is placing a burden on the country's economy which it is beyond the resources of the country to meet. A position has already been reached where there is no reserve and therefore no margin for unforeseen additional obligations.

5. The first task must be to determine how far the external obligations of the country can be reduced or shared with others, or transferred to other shoulders, without impairing too seriously the world position of the United Kingdom and sacrificing the vital advantages which flow from it. But if, after careful review, it is shown that the total effort required is still beyond the capacity of existing national resources, a choice of the utmost difficulty lies before the British people, for they must either give up, for a time, some of the advantages which a high standard of living confers upon them, or, by relaxing their grip in the outside world, spe their country sink to the level of a second-class Power, with injury78f253

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