Observations on Iceland
Washington's decision to abandon the US military base at Keflavík from 1 October may reflect George W Bush's belief that Iceland is no longer of strategic use in today's "war against global terrorism". But it is also a belated recognition that the cold war with the old Soviet Union is well and truly over.
For more than half a century, US forces used the base to keep an eye on Soviet activities in the North Atlantic as part of an early-warning system. Most of the 300,000 Icelanders seemed happy with the American presence - not least because it provided them with protection cost-free. No other country can boast as Iceland can that it spends nothing on defence.
There is a little-known history to all this. Back in May 1940, in a desperate pre-emptive move to fend off Nazi occupation, British troops, with the Icelanders' approval, occupied the island - then legally part of Denmark. This followed Germany's march into Denmark and Norway. Iceland, with its vital strategic geographical position for the protection of the North Atlantic convoy routes between North America and a besieged Britain, was seen as a prize worth fighting for.
But Winston Churchill was also keen to use Iceland as a way of drawing the neutral United States into a war with Germany. In May 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt won the approval of Congress for "lend lease" - the provision of military equipment on loan for Britain. He used that opportunity to declare that the US intended to defend the western hemisphere from attack even if this was far from American shores. Roosevelt even agreed, after secret talks with the Icelanders, that the US should replace the British as their military occupiers - to Churchill's delight.
Four thousand US marines joined 20,000 British troops on Iceland initially and established mutual co-operation. Harry Hopkins, Roosevelt's loyal adviser, believed the decision to occupy Iceland, six months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, was "practically an act of war".
"I am much encouraged by your marines taking over the cold place," Churchill wrote to Roosevelt. The Americans made good use of their base but after the war seemed keen to pull out of Keflavík. In 1951, however, as the cold war intensified, the US signed a defence treaty with the Icelandic government.
Over the years the base turned into a strong dollar earner for the Icelanders. Now they will have to rely for their enviable prosperity on more tourism. This is one country that may yet lament the departure of the US military.
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