Bright Blue has been building relationships with think tanks across the pond. Over these pages, four experts tell us what Tory policy can learn from their research
The day after the House of Commons voted against military involvement in Syria, The Sun front cover splashed with a “death notice” for the Special Relationship. “The funeral will be held at the French Embassy... no flowers please.”
Depending on one’s view, the recent Commons vote was either a victory for common sense or a tragedy for Britain’s role in the world. Either way it is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, of the Special Relationship.
But the reaction to the vote did demonstrate one key point – that the British people are instinctively supportive of the Special Relationship and care about its wellbeing. There was no discussion about the vote’s impact on the 2010 UK-France Defence Treaty or London’s relations with the EU. The focus was almost exclusively on Britain’s relationship with America.
The logic is simple. The U.S. and the UK are liberal democracies which value human rights at a time when many regimes around the world reject those values. Each shares a common history and culture. Both advocate the free-market and promote economic freedom. Both face the same global security challenges: continued international terrorism, increasing cyber-attacks, nuclear proliferation in Iran and growing instability in the Middle East. Britain’s deadliest single terrorist attack was also America’s: 67 Britons died on 9/11.
Britain faces a peculiar challenge that makes the Special Relationship just as important as it ever was. During the days of Empire, Britain had global interests and was able to conserve them because it had global reach. Even without an Empire, Britain maintains ts global interests. Comparatively, it lacks the resources to safeguard those interests. So the Special Relationship should be a top priority for British politicians: it is an enabler and defender of British influence and interests around the world. It allows the UK to have an otherwise impossible global role. After all, the U.S. – not Russia or China – is the only major power which shares Britain’s vision of the world. America’s superpower status, Britain’s global interests, and their shared view of the world make the Anglo-American relationship a very natural one.
Like all relationships, the Anglo-American relationship needs nurturing by both parties. It should not be taken for granted by either London or Washington DC. As the core of the relationship is first and foremost about defence cooperation, declining British defence spending presents the biggest immediate threat to the relationship. Without capabilities like top tier Special Forces, a nuclear deterrent, or expeditionary warfare capability the UK will be seen by many Americans as no better than other European countries. To be America’s top partner Britain must bring real military capability to the table.
Britain also needs to ensure that NATO maintains its primacy over the EU on all things regarding transatlantic security. The ideas that NATO stood for during the Cold War need to be reinvigorated today. Younger politicians in Britain, with no recollection of the Cold War, seem to appreciate institutions like NATO less than their older colleagues. David Cameron, George Osborne, and Philip Hammond – key members of the National Security Council – all entered Parliament after the end of the Cold War. William Hague entered Parliament only months before the Berlin Wall fell. Their formative years in politics have not been shaped by the Cold War and the closeness to the U.S. which that era brought. The government today is the first true post-Cold War government. There is a risk that the importance of NATO or the Special Relationship is eroding with each new generation of politician.
This is, however, a two way street. As the Margaret Thatcher Center at the Heritage Foundation regularly points out, Obama has hardly been a close friend of the UK and his administration rarely considers Europe in its foreign policy formulation. The so-called ‘pivot’ to Asia has left many in Europe scratching their heads. The ‘reset’ with Russia – which has been an unmitigated foreign policy failure – has led many of America’s Eastern European partners to question U.S. commitment to the region. Many in the UK must be disappointed by the Obama Administration’s insistence on negotiations with Argentina over the future of the Falklands. Eurosceptics in Britain can only be puzzled by the Administration’s insistence on the UK staying in the EU.
The Special Relationship has survived its fair share of trials in the past and will continue to do so in the future. The Suez crisis, Vietnam, and the U.S. invasion of Grenada were supposed to doom the Special Relationship but never did. The real threats to the Special Relationship do not come from votes in Parliament on issues like Syria. The end of the Special Relationship will come from a Britain that slashes its defence capabilities and looks toward Europe for its global interests. This might work well for Labour or the Liberal Democrats, but it goes against everything Conservatives believe in. Tories should stand up for the Special Relationship and implement policies that will strengthen – not weaken – the Anglo-American alliance. It is in the national interest to do so.
