PODCAST: When British politicians run for the US presidential election, it’s an old friendship to try.

“Special relationship” refers to the special relationship between the United States and Great Britain, and it is a mythical term in recent British history.

– The term “special relationship” can come from Winston Churchill, says senior researcher Kristin M. Haugevik of NUPI, whom you meet at podcasts from Pod Britannia, where special relationships are the theme.

Haugevik wrote his work doctoral dissertation on partnership in international politics, with the UK/US ratio as an example.

Cooperation when needed

During World War II, the cooperation between Britain and the United States became a symbol of the defense of the free world. And when Churchill first used those words in 1944, it was to emphasize that the relationship, which was so important during the war, must also lead to peace.

Since then, this special relationship has been emphasized and affirmed by a large number of leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. Like any other condition, it has its ups and downs. The Suez crisis of 1956 was a low point. But three decades later, the relationship was at its peak, with Ronald Reagan as US president and Margaret Thatcher as British prime minister.

“Later on, the relationship was again turbulent in the collaboration between George W. Bush and Tony Blair in the war on terror,” said Haugevik.

Brexit and Trump

In recent years, relations between the United States and Britain have been much calmer. But in the last presidential term, there has been talk of a new spring, in meetings with unconventional White House presidents. President Trump supports the Brexit decision and has developed a political friendship with Boris Johnson.

But the support Britain has received from the United States under Trump has not yielded much concrete results, even in the form of a swift and ambitious trade agreement after Britain’s break with the EU.

Future? It’s hard too

That’s why the political elite in London is also worried about what awaits after the presidential election. November 3 Four new years with Trump provide fundamental uncertainty.

But if Joe Biden becomes the next president of the United States, Britain cannot expect a privileged position from the start. Biden’s view on Brexit is the opposite of Trump’s.

And in the coming decades, the UK will have to struggle for attention with major European partners – France militarily, Germany economically and the EU as a whole as the main political bloc.

Listen to the episode titled: Special relationship

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