UK US Relations Research Articles

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

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”.

“New Atlanticism” as a Factor of UK-US Relations

The “special relationship” with the US is at the center of UK foreign policy strategy, which is determined by the overall objective of influencing the modern system of international relations along with adapting to its changes. The UK's post-Brexit "New Atlanticism" has manifested itself in several ways. From a geopolitical point of view, the UK seeks to play a special role in ensuring Euro-Atlantic security against the backdrop of building a new model of relations with the EU. From the economic and regulatory perspective, there is a tendency towards leadership in issues of technology and artificial intelligence security with the support of the US.

UK-China Relations: the U.S. Factor

The article explores the evolution of the UK‟s approach to China through the lens of UK-US relations. A deeper UK-China economic partnership amid growing competition between Washington and Beijing has given rise to U.S.-UK divergences. They resulted in mounting pressure on the UK, which exacerbated under the Trump administration. The US wants to form a coalition of countries belonging to the political West (e.g., G7 and Five Eyes) to diversify supplies, decrease its dependence on Chinese goods and prevent Beijing from acquiring cutting-edge technologies. The following cases are described to explore U.S. attempts to influence Sino-British relations: the UK government‟s decision to allow Chinese investors to participate in building Hinkley Point C nuclear power station, the UK‟s accession to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, clearing Huawei technologies for use in the UK‟s 5G networks and US-UK military cooperation to exercise freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. This pressure is especially evident when U.S. national interests are directly affected, as the Huawei case shows. Moreover, the Conservative party is split when it comes to dealing with China. The UK has been trying to make the US position on China more constructive. Unlike the US, the UK‟s approach to China has been changing gradually.

“Global Britain”: from Idea to Implementation

The article explores a new British foreign policy agenda under the catchy slogan of “Global Britain”. Over time, the thesis of Global Britain has been viewed by the British leadership as a matrix for a new foreign policy. This slogan is still being filled with various conceptual elements and real political, trade and economic steps. The concept of Global Britain is analyzed through UK-US relations, the Commonwealth and cooperation with the EU in the period before and after Brexit. It is concluded that ideologically, Global Britain is not a set of fundamentally new ideas; rather, it is a reformatting with different accents of the previous foreign policy provisions (the well-known concept of the “Three Majestic Circles” by W. Churchill) and taking into account reducing its opportunities and leverage in the European Union and the European region as a whole and attempts to reorient the economy, trade and financial relations towards the dynamically developing countries of Asia and other regions. It is highlighted that the difficult and protracted negotiations on Britain‟s withdrawal from the EU and UK snap elections in 2019 slowed down the filling of the concept with real content. At present, the future of the British foreign policy largely depends on the course of the new US President, the UK-EU cooperation, and the impact of pandemic on British economy.

British Public Opinion Towards the Vietnam War and UK-US Relations During the 1964-70 Labour Governments

The historiography of the 1964-70 Wilson governments has provided in depth analysis of the Vietnam War within the context of transatlantic relations, while other studies have examined the anti-war movement within British society. But there has been relatively little focus on British public opinion towards the Vietnam War and UK-US relations in the 1960s. To address this gap in scholarship, this article undertakes secondary analysis of opinion poll datasets covering the period 1960-69. It provides new insights into the patterning of public opinion. First, it finds that views supportive of the US war effort and of British government policy were more prevalent amongst men, younger people, and Conservative Party voters. Second, critical appraisals of Wilson as prime minister were not linked with a tendency to hold more negative views of the Vietnam War, either within the general public or Labour voters in particular. Third, a strongly favourable climate of opinion towards broader transatlantic relations deteriorated to some extent in the mid-to-late-1960s, and this shift occurred across societal groups, including supporters of the main parties. Growing opposition to the Vietnam War may have contributed to this shift.

Transatlantic transactions: UK–US relations and the ‘War on Terror’ in Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer

Roman Polanski’s The Ghost Writer (2010) engages with the ‘special relation’ between the US and the UK in the context of the ‘Global War on Terrorism’. As this essay argues, the film considers the UK’s relationship with the US as part of a wider net of rather opaque transatlantic exchanges and transactions. The film suggests that such exchanges and transactions have ultimately led to both a generalised distrust in the role of political elites and a growing resentment towards traditional modes of international relations in the wake of the ‘War on Terror’.

Special relationships in flux: Brexit and the future of the US-EU and US-UK relationships

A British exit from the EU would add to growing strains on the United States’ relations with Britain and the rest of Europe, but by itself would not lead to a breakdown in transatlantic relations due to the scale of shared ideas and interests, institutional links, international pressures and commitments by individual leaders. It would, however, add to pressures on the US that could change the direction of the transatlantic relationship. From the perspective of Washington, Britain risks becoming an awkward inbetweener, beholden more than ever before to a wider transatlantic relationship where the US and EU are navigating the challenges of an emerging multipolar world. The article outlines developments in the UK, EU, Europe and the US in order to explain what Brexit could mean for the United States’ approaches to transatlantic relations. By doing so the article moves beyond a narrow view of Brexit and transatlantic relations that focuses on the future of UK–US relations. In the conclusion we map out several ways in which US views of the transatlantic relationship could be changed.

Exemplary ‘friends and allies’? Unpacking UK–US relations in the early twenty-first century

In this article, the general Anglo-American relationship from 2000 to the end of 2005 is critically analysed. This in-depth evaluation of an important era in recent twenty-first century UK–US relations is accomplished through unpacking the relationship into its different aspects. Drawing on the established interpretive ‘schools’ of Anglo-American relations, ‘evangelical’, ‘functional’ and ‘terminal’ dimensions of UK–US relations are examined in succession. This analysis is undertaken along with reference to ‘good’, ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ aspects. The question of whether the UK and US can be deemed ‘exemplary “friends and allies”’, is considered. This article concludes that ultimately, during the period under examination (2000–05), a shortfall in that last condition was palpable and, amid several trade-offs being fashioned, the UK should have better ‘held its nerve’, particularly over the controversial issue of Iraq.

The political economy of Anglo-American War: The case of Iraq

This article relates the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq to fundamental aspects of Anglo-American political economy, including the increasing integration of the British and US economies, and the largely Anglo-American-led project of global economic restructuring currently taking place. Part I discusses the political economy of UK–US relations and the evolution of an Anglo-American military–industrial conglomerate. Part II links the Anglo-American relations and interests detailed in the first part of the article to an on-going project of global reconstruction. With this as a context, Part III reviews the history of British and US foreign policies towards Iraq and the culmination of these policies in the invasion of the country. The conclusions draw implications for the overall nature and direction of current trends of change.

UK–US Relations After the Three Bs – Blair, Brown and Bush

UK–US Relations After the Three Bs – Blair, Brown and Bush

The double interregnum: UK-US relations beyond Blair and Bush

The downturn in relations between the UK and the US under the premiership of Gordon Brown presents an interesting opportunity to analyse the nature of the relationship between the two states. Brown's policy of creating distance between his approach and that of his predecessor, Tony Blair, and between himself and President Bush, offers a case-study in whether it is possible to be cool towards an incumbent leader while remaining close to the state he leads. In other words: is it feasible to be anti-Bush and pro-American? It also provides an opportunity to analyse the role of political timing in inter-state relations. By appearing driven by reaction to the events of 2003 despite taking office in 2007, Brown put himself out of step with the prevailing mood of the time. By also acting as if the Bush administration was a lame duck counting out its time to retirement in 2009, Brown allowed himself to be outmanoeuvred in his bid for America's attention by the conciliatorily pro-American new leaders of France and Germany. By acting as if the Bush administration is a political interregnum, the Brown government has invited the United States to treat his own administration the same way. The result is a dual interregnum in UK–US relations, with each incumbent leader awaiting the political demise of the other before better relations can be resumed.