US-UK relations: the death of the ‘special relationship’?

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Posted on 01/06/2025 2:45:17 PM PST by MinorityRepublican

The term ‘special relationship’ has been carved out by a long and relatively well-trodden history. The term was originally coined by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the wake of the Second World War. In a world where a victorious Britain had defeated Nazi Germany principally due to their alliance with the US, it was easy to see the need to promote a special relationship between the two nations.

The relationship continued to simmer throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, reaching a particularly warm point in the 1980s under the dynamism and chemistry of the relationship between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President Ronald Raegan. Thatcher is reported to have called Raegan “the second most important man in my life,” after her husband.

Even into the 21st Century, the special relationship maintained momentum. New millennium brought forth a changing age and uniquely solidified the relationship between President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. George Bush described Tony Blair as “a friend. He is a friend of the American people and he is a friend of mine”.

However, in the past decade, the special relationship has become more tepid. 14 consecutive years of confused conservative premiership tested the strong foundations that had been in place near the end of President Obama’s second term. The election of President Trump was set to rewrite the foreign policy rulebook not just in Europe but around the globe, raising concerns about the durability of the special relationship. This was characterised by the interactions between Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May in 2017. Theresa May described some of the rhetoric that Trump expressed as “totally unacceptable”. Such open condemnation paved the way for frosty relations between the two countries towards the end of the decade, partially reversed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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