What Were The Long-term Consequences Of The Suez Affair?

The Suez affair came to be regarded as the last fling of the pre-war imperialist old world order. After it, both France and Britain realised they could no longer get away with acting as they had done before. The world had changed; the United Nations had created a new moral climate; and the two new superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were now the dominant force in world affairs. The two old European powers realised that, on the international stage, almost nothing of any significance could now be done without reference to the tensions of the Cold War.

Britain and France had not informed the United States of their plan to invade Egypt, and the action was explicitly denounced by the Americans afterwards. The episode caused both countries to re-evaluate their relationship with the United States. France became more distant and mistrustful of America, while Britain, which had feared an exchange rate crisis in which the Americans would do nothing to support sterling, became more docile and submissive to American interests.

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