800.24/1388
The British Embassy to the Department of State 1
Aide-Mémoire
His Majesty’s Government are anxious to coordinate closely their policy in the Middle East with the United States Government. While the Middle East is an area of essential strategic importance to the British Commonwealth, His Majesty’s Government hope that the United States Government will be prepared to collaborate with them closely in that area, and for this purpose a mutual understanding of each other’s aims and interests is much to be desired. His Majesty’s Government would accordingly greatly welcome the visit to London of one or more high American officials for the purpose of an informal exchange of views both on current questions in the Middle East and on some problems that may arise after the war, in the hope of securing full mutual understanding.
The discussion might, in the view of His Majesty’s Government, cover not only political questions but also any other Middle Eastern questions which either Government may wish to raise. For example, it would seem useful that the two Governments should exchange views on the future development of Anglo-American cooperation in economic matters. The value of such cooperation has already been strikingly shown through the admirable work of the Middle East Supply Centre. Hitherto, owing to the shortage of available supplies, the activities of the Supply Centre must have appeared to the Governments of the Middle Eastern countries as mainly restrictive; but it may before very long be possible to relax the existing restrictions, and the time now seems to have come when the future of this Anglo-American organisation might usefully be considered. His Majesty’s Government would propose that the first step might be to bring the local Governments gradually into consultation by means of conferences on subjects of interest to them, such as transport, food production and rationing statistics. Later, provided that the local Governments proved responsive, arrangements might be made to associate [Page 7] them even more closely with the Centre’s work. Eventually they might, perhaps, if they wished, be admitted to full participation in all the Centre’s activities. There would seem to be great advantage in an endeavour on these lines to make Anglo-American control over supplies and distribution, which will presumably have to remain in being in the Middle East until some considerable time after the end of the war, more acceptable to the local Governments by a progressive process of consultation and partnership, accompanied where possible by a gradual relaxation of restrictions. Finally, as a long-term objective, it may be found desirable to establish a Middle East Economic Council as a consultative body representative of the Middle East Governments and of other Governments with major interests in this region, but His Majesty’s Government have not thought it necessary to reach a decision on this latter point at the present stage.
His Majesty’s Government suggest that the conversations should cover Syria, the Lebanon, Palestine, Trans-Jordan, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, Yemen, Persia, the Persian Gulf States, and Afghanistan. They are not thinking of including a discussion on Turkey or Egypt on this occasion.
- Handed to the Acting Secretary of State (Stettinius) by the British Ambassador (Halifax) on November 1.↩