Enclosure 1
SUMMARY BRIEFING PAPER3
General Background
Purpose of the MACMILLAN Conference
The purpose of this conference is, in view of the growing crisis in
allied relationships, to create a more effective community of effort
in the free world. If we are successful in establishing a closer
community of effort with the British, we and the British together,
as the two countries which form the core of the free countries’
defense alliances, should develop this stronger sense of community
with our other allies. An important consequence of this action would
be to replace our present alliances, which are based on a principle
of mutual protection that is becoming obsolete and wasteful, with a
new system of relationships founded on a strong sense of security in
which defensive tasks for the area as a whole are distributed
according to each country’s capabilities. Another consequence may be
the establishment of common machinery in the economic and
psychological fields to deal effectively with Soviet economic and
propaganda warfare. If at the close of this dramatic conference we
can point to specific steps we have agreed to take toward achieving
a true sense of community, our joint efforts should revive
confidence in the determination of the United States and the United
Kingdom to provide coordinated leadership for the free
countries.
Particular United Kingdom Policy
Objectives.
Judging from his correspondence relating to the conference, Prime
Minister Macmillan clearly
recognizes the critical period we are in and the need to pool more
effectively the scientific brains and other resources of the free
world. Another principal British object in this meeting is the
restoration of British prestige by participating with the United
States in joint direction of the allied effort as they did during
the war. The British probably also wish to take advantage of our
reactions to the Soviet successes in rocketry to obtain some
modification in our legislative restrictions on the provision of
nuclear information and materials.
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Particular United States Policy
Objectives.
In order to realize the general purposes mentioned above, the U.S.
and U.K. will have to reconcile the substantial divergencies now
existing between their respective foreign policies. The principal
changes we wish in British policy are as follows:
- 1.
- We would like to have the British bring their policy
towards Communist China into line with our own. This means,
first, wholehearted agreement to deny it membership in the
United Nations and, second, British agreement to break
relations with Communist China as soon as it is politically
feasible for them.
- 2.
- We are interested in the maintenance of the British
position in the Persian Gulf and would like to persuade them
to make adjustments necessary to assure maintenance of that
position. In this connection, we also favor the resumption
of Anglo-Saudi relations on a sound basis as soon as
possible.
- 3.
- We wish to extract from the British a firm commitment that
they will not obstruct, through such devices as GATT consultations, progress
towards achievement of a common market on the
continent.
What We Can Give the
British.
Besides pledging our cooperation in imparting a sense of community
into our relations, we can make the following specific offers to the
British:
- 1.
- We can promise the Prime Minister that the Administration
will do everything within its power to obtain Congressional
action to modify the legislative restrictions on the
provision of nuclear information, materials and weapons to
our allies. The U.K. would be saved large capital investment
if it could purchase enriched uranium for weapons and
submarines from the U.S. It would also improve the
efficiency and usefulness to the free world of the U.K.
stockpile.
- 2.
- Under the provisions of the present Atomic Energy Act, the
Atomic Energy Commission is discussing with the U.K. Atomic
Energy Authority sale of some [less than 1
line of source text not declassified] enriched
uranium to be used as fuel in U.K. power reactors. This
would make unnecessary an expensive addition to U.K.
production facilities.
- 3.
- In return for their commitment not to interfere with the
progress in the Common Market, we can reaffirm our clear
support for their project for a Free Trade Area to associate
other OEEC countries with
the Common Market as reiterated at the October 16–18 OEEC Ministerial Meeting. This
is important to them because they feel that their
competitive position in export trade would seriously weaken
should the Common Market be established without a Free Trade
Area.
- 4.
- It would probably be feasible to conclude the agreement on
provision of IRBM’s to the
UK at the time of this meeting if the draft agreement which
was recently prepared in the Defense Department is
acceptable to the British and if they find our replies to
their 11 questions satisfactory.
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Suggested Machinery for Following
Up Decisions and Insuring Closer Future Collaboration With the
U.K.
I recommend that you and Mr. Macmillan appoint me and Foreign Secretary Lloyd as your respective agents
for monitoring the execution of decisions taken, supervising the
progress of collaboration between the heads of the other Departments
and Agencies in each country concerned, and deciding for reference
to you and the Prime Minister in future any subjects or problems
which you and the Prime Minister should discuss and decide.
Next I recommend that after the Conference is concluded, you direct a
communication to the responsible officials in the fields of defense,
intelligence, information, economic, scientific and United Nations
affairs, informing them of the responsibility you have given me and
instructing each such official to establish a closer cooperative
working relationship with his opposite number in the British
Government, keeping me currently informed of progress and
problems.