The UK-US Special Relationship through the lens of strategic documents

Abstract

The article is devoted to an analysis of the current British-American relations and their compliance with the previously established “special” status. The research subject is the current strategic documents of the countries – the UK Integrated Review Refresh 2023 and the US National Security Strategy 2022. A detailed study of the above documents allowed to identify the states’ strategic priorities, common interests, as well as the difference in positioning on the international scene and approaches to bilateral relations. Considering the need to compare the above declared strategies and practically implemented actions to get a complete view of the current UK-US relations, the author examines in detail the agreements reached between the states after the latest publication of the strategic documents, as well as the international agenda affecting bilateral relations. The methodological basis of the research is comparative analysis and content analysis. These methods, as well as systemic analysis enabled a comprehensive assessment of the current UK-US relations. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the article is the first to conduct a comprehensive comparative analysis of the UK Integrated Review Refresh 2023 and the US National Security Strategy 2022. The research gained insight into bilateral relations status, as well as into the states’ strategic priorities, which may be useful for further research focusing on the UK and the US. The main conclusion of the study is that the “special relationship” continues to be important for both countries in promoting national interests. Although the term is not mentioned in considering strategic documents, the states’ common strategic priorities create the basis for further partnership. The strategic arrangements and the benefits that the UK and the US derive allow to the relationship remain “special”.