The Present and the Future of the Special Relationship: The Debate in the United States and the United Kingdom

Since World War II U.S.–UK relations, despite occasional ups and downs, have been characterized by an unprecedented level of mutual trust and cooperation. The official and academic discourse adopted the phrase ‘the special relationship’ to describe this phenomenon. In the post-Cold War period, Tony Blair’s foreign policy apparently gave it a new impetus. Nevertheless, its controversial results along with certain developments in the 2010s have called for a reassessment of the alliance. Moreover, skepticism has been growing about the future of the Anglo-American Special Relationship (AASR) since the start of the Brexit talks after the 2016 EU membership referendum and the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, given his determination to review the principles underpinning U.S. cooperation with its European allies. The paper examines the current state and the future of the AASR. Based on a large body of academic literature, the first section focuses on the main approaches to defining the special relationship and determining the reasons behind its emergence as well as its role and importance for both countries. The author aligns herself with those researchers who attribute the durability of Anglo-American cooperation to the high level of institutionalization in the defense, intelligence and nuclear spheres. The second section examines the expert and political discourse on the current state and the future of the AASR in the 2010s as well as its media coverage. Particular attention is paid to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee’s reports on UK–U.S. relations and the Report of the Iraq Inquiry (Chilcot report). As for the current state of the special relationship, the author stresses that the potential decrease in British military capabilities, Britain’s joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Brexit have caused concern in the U.S., but this unique and enduring alliance will remain important for both countries in the coming years. Despite some speculations on the UK’s diminishing power, the United States needs its military and intelligence capabilities as well as diplomacy to project power in the key regions of the world.

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