Eden's earlier diplomatic strengths did not translate into an effective response to Nasser. That failure belonged to a political generation exhausted by the demands of the Second World War and still trying to govern a changed international system. Hugh Gaitskell first compared Nasser's conduct with the dictators of the 1930s, then wrote that unilateral Anglo-French attack was not justified by what Egypt had done so far. His letter shows that a politician could regard control of the canal as a grave threat while still insisting on United Nations authority or clearer Egyptian aggression before supporting war.
Chapter · 1:02:01-1:11:35
Eden, Gaitskell, and the Politics of War
The seminar contrasts Eden’s troubled handling of Nasser with the opposition’s shifting view of intervention and international authority.