The United States had achieved postwar primacy, but Britain and France still carried substantial international security burdens. Royal Navy and other British forces made major contributions in the Korean War even though Korea had never been British territory. A British Daring-class destroyer also reached the Taiwan Strait during the confrontation with Communist China before American forces arrived, in the example given here. A British confrontation with China is presented as carrying less escalation risk than direct confrontation between the superpowers. These examples support the argument that American strategy still depended on capable allies whose independent actions Washington did not always support.
Notable Point · 49:55-51:43
The Royal Navy's global security role before Suez
British forces remained major contributors to Korea and the Taiwan Strait, complicating the idea that American global primacy had already displaced allied sea power everywhere.