‘Three Circles’: Winston Churchill's Approach to International Relations

ABSTRACT This article introduces a special issue that explores Winston Churchill's relationship with different countries. As its starting point, this piece takes Churchill's world view that Britain derived her status from its position at the focal point of three intersecting circles: Europe, the British Empire and the wider English‐speaking world. Although there was a fair degree of consistency in his approach, he progressively adjusted his outlook as the comparative size of the three circles changed over the course of his lifetime. His Victorian youth was dominated by the empire, but by the time of his death in 1965, Europe was divided by the Cold War, and the United States, rather than Britain, dominated the English‐speaking circle. The authors argue that modern representations of Churchill's world view have been further complicated by the impact of his own writings and by the debates on his contested legacy over empire and Europe. They conclude that detailed examinations of his approach towards different countries reveal a shifting, nuanced, pragmatic and political picture, with Churchill's views and actions evolving over time in response to Britain's relative position within the wider ‘three circles’ paradigm. In doing so, they introduce the overall premise of this special issue, namely, that exploring Churchill's attitude to a series of specific countries is a way of taking ‘core samples’ that illustrate his world view more generally.