Strings across the Atlantic
Fraser McKechnie
Since Churchill first coined “special relationship” in a 1944 speech, the term has become synonymous with diplomatic relations between the UK and US. However, to look at the headlines in recent years, one would think that this relationship really isn’t very special at all. Items such as “Nosedive in UK-US relations is another casualty of Afghanistan’s fall” and “Boris Johnson accused of lying and insulting Barack Obama” would to an innocent onlooker, seem like the two countries are at each other’s throats, rather than in a blossoming garden of political serenity.
President Biden made it clear in the early months of his presidency that he wishes to uphold this relationship with our two countries, going as far as saying that “the UK was with us from start, as they always were, equally committed” when speaking about the terrorist threats in the middle east. When Biden was a part of the Obama administration, however, it was a different story. In the latter two years of Obama's second term, Brexit was one of the main talking points of the UK-US relationship. The President was very critical of the Brexit campaign and made it clear that the UK would be a lesser ally of the States if it were to depart from the Union. After the UK left the EU Obama said that Angela Merkel and Germany was the US’ closest ally in Europe, taking a complete U-turn on the supposed favouritism for their English-speaking friend. Contrary to Biden’s recent statements, Obama didn’t think the UK was pulling their weight when it came to our defence agreements. In one interview Obama mentioned that he wouldn’t be able to call our relationship “special” if we didn’t increase our defence budgets to his idea of what a strong ally should spend on the military. The PM at the time, David Cameron, went on to raise the defence budgets to the US’ requirements and our two countries were back to business. All it took was an ultimatum, which is hardly something even quarrelling countries hand out lightly.
The battles of diplomacy don’t stop in The West, either. In August of 2021, Biden announced that he would be bringing home all US soldiers from Afghanistan, aiming for them to be back in the states by September 11th. With the UK being the second-largest supplier of troops to the region, this meant a bit more than rejigging some files in a Downing Street cabinet. The UK was at odds with the US mere months into the new Presidency. Relations with the States were already damaged by the 4 years of President Trump and with this decision, it looked like Biden wasn’t going to be beginning repairs anytime soon. Boris Johnson’s reaction to the withdrawal was one of criticism. At an emergency meeting of the G7, Mr Johnson personally pleaded for an extension to the evacuation dates but Biden was firm with his policy and the evacuation went ahead as planned. You would think that two countries with such an “equally committed” outlook on the crisis would at least have compromised on the issue. But no, the US drive for their way of thinking prevailed and the UK followed suit, having the last of their troops fly out on the 28th of August.
“Special” seems to be the first in the line of a long list of buzzwords associated with the two countries' connection, with “historical” coming second place. It seems that in every speech pertaining to the relationship someone is bound to mention the words “historical roots” or the “long-standing alliance”, but to investigate the issues faced in the 20th Century those words wouldn’t ring so true. Take the Suez crisis for example (the conflict, not the stuck boat). In 1956, the UK along with France landed paratroopers on the shores of the Suez Canal to regain control of the vital trade route from the Egyptian Government, who nationalised the company that ran the canal. It was previously owned by French and British shareholders, hence the backlash from the two countries. The Prime Minister at the time, Antony Eden, faced heavy criticism from US President Eisenhower due to his sporadic and violent decision to stage an invasion. The US even threatened to revoke IMF (international monetary aid) loans because of the attack, which would have left the UK government stretched to locate funds to stop a financial crisis in the aftermath of the operation.
The relationship between Washington and Downing St should be viewed with scrutiny. Politically, it seems there is not a strong rope binding our two nations together, but rather a fraying string that is slowly being pulled apart by a series of conflicting principles and diplomatic disagreements.