Britain's Departure from Aden and South Arabia: Without Glory but Without Disaster [Hardcover]

Britain's hasty departure from Aden and South Arabia after 138 years has often been presented as a humiliation at best and a disaster at worst. London's hopes of handing power and sovereignty over to a friendly federal regime collapsed in the face of a nationalist uprising backed that enjoyed the support of Egypt. Five decades after the final British troops left Aden, academic experts and former British officials directly involved in the events that unfolded critically reflect on British withdrawal from South Arabia, the post-colonial problems in South Yemen that still resonate today, and how the United Kingdom learnt from its experience in stabilising Oman while overseeing the formation of the United Arab Emirates.Five decades after the final British troops left Aden, academic experts and former British officials directly involved in the events reflect on British withdrawal from South Arabia, and how the United Kingdom learnt from its experience in stabilising Oman while overseeing the formation of the United Arab Emirates.Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction: Humiliating Withdrawal or a Necessary Retreat? Reflections on Britain and South Arabia 50 Years on Clive Jones 1 The British Withdrawal from South Arabia John Ducker 2 Britain's Security Response: Was the Protectorate Aden's Shield or Achilles Heel? J. G. R. Harding 3 'Present Drift of Events Makes One Feel Extremely Embittered and Depressed.': The British Exit from South Arabia Thanos Petouris 4 Breaking Promises and Betraying Friends? Reflections on the British Withdrawal from Aden Oliver Miles CMG 5 A Federal Panacea? British Policy and the Idea of a South Arabian Federal State, 1952-63 Joseph Higgins 6 The South Arabian Army A Poisoned Chalice? Jonathan Walker 7 Operation Salah al-Din: The Egyptian Intelligence Service and its Role in the Clandestine War against Britain in South Yemen Martin Jerret 8 Waiting for Labour: Alec Douglas-Home, Lyndon Johnson and the Challenge of South West Al3$