Skybolt Affair
In December 1962, the British public learned through press leaks that
the U.S. planned to cancel production of the Skybolt, an airŠtoŠsurface
missile that Washington had previously agreed to develop for its own
and Great Britain's air force (thereby saving the British R&D costs).
The resulting fervor, in Parliament and in newspapers both at home and
abroad, puzzled President Kennedy, who considered Great Britain a
friend and his relations with its prime minister, Harold MacMillan, and
its ambassador, Sir David Ormsby Gore, highly cordial and sympathetic.
The "Skybolt Affair" summary case consists of excerpts from Richard
Neustadt's case study of the controversy published in Alliance
Politics, as well as unpublished interview notes. It details domestic,
international, military, and budgetary considerations--for both the US
and Great Britain--surrounding the original Skybolt agreement and its
subsequent cancellation, and chronicles the diplomatic steps--and
missteps--that accompanied the developing crisis. The supplement
provides a chronology and cast of characters, as well as articles on
budgetary and defense issues affecting the US decision to dump Skybolt.
This case has been used to illustrate how two government's can easily
misunderstand each other's behavior--how lack of insight into the
other's political system and pressures can lead to missed signals and
misinterpretation. It provides students with the material to look
inside each government and think creatively about what questions they
should be asking themselves about the other side.
Skybolt Affair: Summary Case, 34pp, (C94-80-321.0);
Skybolt Affair: Supplement Summary Case, 8pp+, (C94-80-321.4)
