Special Relationship or Useful Allies? The Bretton Woods System and Anglo-American Relations

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2015-06-15

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en

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This thesis deals with the ‘Special Relationship’ between the United States and Great Britain, and the role that the Bretton Woods System played in this relationship. Was it an important agreement that strengthened the bond between two members of the same family or was it a useful tool that served both countries’ national interests? This research argues that a distinction should be made between the Bretton Woods System and the alliance during World War Two and the Cold War. These two wars signify two very different contexts in which cooperation occurred on a different basis and on a different level. In the end it concludes that the Bretton Woods System was probably intended as a model for international monetary cooperation introduced by two Anglo-Saxon countries, who shared a deep bond of culture and mutual understanding. However, during the Cold War this changed to a pragmatic approach by two different countries with two different agendas. During these years, the goal was to defend national interests, but for that they needed each other.

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