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Andrew Baker, Anglo-Irish Relations, 1939–41: A Study in Multilateral Diplomacy and Military Restraint, Twentieth Century British History, Volume 16, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 359–381, https://doi.org/10.1093/tcbh/hwi051
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Abstract
‘This study bridges two gaps, one in the historiography of Anglo-Irish relations between 1939 and 1941 and the other in International Relations (IR) theory. Anglo-Irish relations during the Second World War have been the subject of numerous studies focusing upon the bilateral nature of that relationship, but it was subject to serious multilateral considerations—the Commonwealth and the US. At moments of danger between the two states, it was not the balance of a bilateral relationship, but rather of a broad multilateral structure which set the pace of British policy-making. This restrained British military planning against Eire. The history of Anglo-Irish relations in this period positively links the conduct of multilateral diplomacy with the absence of the use of force. From the standpoint of IR theory, this provides a useful ‘hard’ case for how/why multilateralism may matter. It also illustrates several of the deficiencies in IR theory, not least the Whiggish assumption that integration or globalization follow a linear progression (against which stands the equally Whiggish notion that interstate relations are eternally cast). This article seeks to demonstrate that a somewhat wider appreciation of history makes it possible to reconcile multilateral diplomacy with many more traditional ‘realist’ concerns.’
