Personal Blogs

With President Trump seemingly intent on reshaping America's relationship with Russia and Europe I have been thinking about historical precedents and in my reading have come across three passages reflecting on post-war events that have struck me as being particularly pertinent at the present time.

In his outstanding book recounting Britain's 1975 European Community referendum 'Yes to Europe!' Saunders reflects "The alliance with the United  States, sacralised by Churchill as the 'Special Relationship' pointed to another possible destiny, in the union of 'the English-Speaking Peoples' across the globe...Churchill had spoken of 'a special relationship' between Britain and Europe - the same language, interestingly, that he applied to the United States - but the sense that Europe was a partner for Britain, rather than an element in its own identity, was not uniquely Churchillian." (Saunders, 2018)

Elsewhere, Judt cites the hugely influential American diplomat George Kennan who wrote in January 1945 of the USA's potential future relationships with Russia "could we not make a decent and definite compromise with [the USSR]? - divide Europe frankly into spheres of influence - keep ourselves out of the Russian sphere and the Russians out of ours?... And within whatever sphere of action was left to us we could at least... (try) to restore life, in the wake of war, on a dignified and stable foundation." (Judt, 2005)

Judt goes on to quote US Vice-President Henry Wallace speaking on his country's relationship with Great Britain "aside from our common language and common literary tradition, we have no more in common with Imperialistic England than with Communist Russia."

The three passages above provoke a number of thoughts and questions:

• We hear time and time again about Britain's 'special relationship', indeed it has become sacral, but we never hear or talk about our special relationship with Europe. Perhaps because of the lack of a common language we have chosen to ignore the latter special relationship to the point of effective divorce in 2020.
• Are President Trump's intentions - even if based solely on transactionality - little more than Kennan's view? Can the world potentially sustain two superpowers with spheres of influence, effectively able to trade with each other and dictate policy, if not to the detriment of others then at least without the significant consideration of them?
• Is there a clear and long held view in the United States that aside from that common language, and plenty of historic antagonism, that there is nothing particularly special about our two nation's relationship?

It seems to me that Britain's alliance with America has never been more strained, if - with one or two notable exceptions - it hs ever been truly strong. It seems that there is an argument, at least, that President Trump is restoring an order. 

It seems that if we believe that countries who work together are most successful then Britain should be looking to our other 'special relationship' of nearest geographic neighbours.