Events during the past year have resulted in outstanding changes 
      and serious potential alterations in Britain's international 
      position. The deterioration in the situation of the European 
      democracies vis a vis, the totalitarian states necessitates an 
      appraisal of the possible consequences to the United States of 
      a disintegration of the British Empire.
 
      
 
 
What were the foundations of Britain's power, which resulted 
      in the Pax Britannica being maintained from 1814 to 1914 without 
      a world war and which enabled the United States to develop its 
      present economy and form of government without interference from 
      abroad? They were basically:
 
      
 
 
First, the maintenance by Britain of superior sea power with 
      far flung strategic bases. This gave the United Kingdom effective 
      control of the world's oceanic highways.
 
      
 
 
Second, the British policy of maintaining the balance of power 
      in Europe by seeking to prevent any one State from obtaining 
      an overwhelmingly dominant position on the European Continent, 
      which might threaten the safety of Great Britain itself.
 
      
 
 
This state of affairs is now imperilled by the following four 
      major developments:
 
      
 
 
1. The actual supremacy of Germany in Central Europe