Canal nationalisation as brinkmanship

The canal concession was due to expire in 1968, so Britain and France had little reason to expect Nasser to risk a major confrontation. Negotiations with Egypt were continuing, with the United States involved. Britain and France understood that military force remained an option if the expected terms failed, an assumption Washington had partly inferred without confirming. Nationalisation offered funds for the Aswan Dam through canal revenue and gave Nasser control over the crisis. Britain and France retained strong ties to Arab militaries they had helped train, yet Nasser withheld the plan even from Egypt's own military. Canal revenue, development finance, sovereignty, diplomacy, and military risk were bound together in one calculated gamble.