The Future of the 'Special Relationship'

Since Winston Churchill first coined the term in 1946, successive American Presidents and Prime Ministers have hailed the ‘Special Relationship’ between the United Kingdom and the United States. For over 80 years, the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, economic, military and intelligence relationship between the two countries has endured changes of government, the end of the Cold War, the ‘War on Terror’, and globalisation.

However, with Brexit, the changed geopolitical context and the return of Donald Trump to the White House, what does the future hold for the ‘Special Relationship’? Will Donald Trump’s second presidency and his ‘America First’ policy see relations continue to deteriorate or will the new Labour government’s charm offensive mark the start of a renaissance in transatlantic cooperation? With the United States’ attention focused on China rising and war in Ukraine and the Middle East, can Britain continue to ‘punch above its weight’ in Washington?

Join our distinguished panel to explore what prospects President Trump’s second term in the White House might hold for Britain’s foreign policy and this unusually ‘Special Relationship’.

Panel:

Lord (Kim) Darroch is one of Britain’s most accomplished diplomats. During his diplomatic career which spanned three decades, he worked in a wide range of positions in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and served as Britain’s Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2007 to 2011. Lord Darroch also served as the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser (2012-2015) and, most recently, was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2016 to 2019, during President Trump’s first term in office.

Evie Aspinall is the Director of the British Foreign Policy Group. Her primary research interests are domestic consent for foreign policy, the UK’s role in the world and challenges posed by the UK’s strategic rivals. She is a regular commentator in the British and international media and previously worked at UN Women UK and the Future Leaders Network.

Dr James Ellison is Reader in International History at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author of The United States, Britain and the Transatlantic Crisis: Rising to the Gaullist Challenge and Threatening Europe: Britain and the Creation of the European Community. He is an expert in Britain’s relationships with Europe and the United States, alliance politics and diplomacy after 1945.

Further speakers to be announced ...