Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Western Europe, Volume VII, Part 2

344. Memorandum of Conversation⁰

MCT MC/7

June 9, 1958, 3 p.m.

MACMILLAN TALKS

SUBJECT

• Interdependence: US/UK Relationship

PARTICIPANTS

• United States
  • The President
  • The Secretary
  • Mr. Reinhardt
  • Mr. Elbrick
  • General Goodpaster
  • Mr. Dale
• United Kingdom
  • The Prime Minister
  • Ambassador Caccia
  • Sir Norman Brook
  • Sir Patrick Dean
  • Mr. Frederick Bishop

The Prime Minister expressed his hope that we can reaffirm the Declaration of Common Purpose adopted last October and continue to concert our policies on a confidential basis.¹ He stated that the study groups set up after the October talks (Task Force I) have worked well and did not believe that new machinery is needed. He thought that these working groups should be continued and strengthened if necessary.

Referring to the Lebanon situation the Prime Minister said that on the military side our cooperation has gone well and he hoped that the liaison between our two staffs in London and with Admiral Holloway (CINCNELM) may be continued so that we may take action on short notice as required.

With respect to Southeast Asia, the Prime Minister said that four countries (Australia and New Zealand in addition to the US and UK) could make contributions. He believed that we should find out now how all four can operate as a joint force if something should break out in that area, who would command, and how operations would be conducted.

The President suggested that the Philippines might be disposed to contribute and the Secretary said that the ROK and Nationalist Chinese would also. The Secretary noted that both have been anxious to get into the Indonesian affair but imagined that the kind of coordination which the Prime Minister mentioned should be among only the Anglo-Saxon countries.

The President stated his belief that Anglo-American cooperation should be as nearly complete as it can be made even though it cannot always be publicly admitted and the US must sometimes appear somewhat disinterested. He commended the working groups saying that they are “doing beautiful work and I want to keep them healthy and strong”.

The Secretary returning to the subject of defense of Southeast Asia, said that we should do some political thinking before we get too far along with the military work and suggested that this subject be discussed in more detail tomorrow.² The President pointed out that the main question is how to get Australia and New Zealand included in our defense planning there. The Prime Minister said that both countries are happy to have the UK open discussions on this subject on their behalf.

0. Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 63 D 123, CF 1022. Top Secret; Eyes Only. Drafted by William N. Dale, Officer in Charge of United Kingdom and Ireland Affairs, and approved by the White House. The meeting was held at the White House. Five separate memoranda of this conversation were prepared; see also Documents 345–347. A memorandum covering procedures for further meetings (MCT MC/11) is in Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 63 D 123, CF 1022.
1. For text of the declaration of interdependence, October 25, 1957, and a statement dated October 24 concerning the establishment of two study groups to make recommendations in the fields of nuclear cooperation and military defense, see Department of State Bulletin, November 11, 1957, pp. 739–741.
2. A memorandum of a conversation on the defense of Southeast Asia between Macmillan and Dulles on June 11 is scheduled for publication in volume XVII. No record of a conversation on this subject between Eisenhower and Macmillan has been found in Department of State files.