Bridging the gap: the UK between the US and the EU

Abstract

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision to send Royal Marine Commandos to Afghanistan in the spring of 2002 resulted in the deployment of the largest military force assembled by Britain since the Gulf War of 1991. In 1991, Britain took a leading role among European nations in the United States (US)-led coalition responsible for driving Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Just as then, Britain once again stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the US, although this time in a hunt for Osama bin Laden and the destruction of the al-Qaida network, recognised as having been responsible for the terrorist attacks that took place in the US on 11 September 2001.