This book examines the response of British policy-makers to the collapse of belief in racial superiority, and with it the ideological basis of empire, following the fall of Singapore in 1942. The book studies the Anglo-American debate in which British officials, led by Lord Hailey, countered American criticisms of imperial rule by emphasizing economic development and peace-keeping as new, non-racial justifications for western authority. These are themes that have retained a powerful resonance on the post-war world.