As Britain changes both head of state and government, it’s fair to ask if, moving forward, the US and UK’s “special relationship” will remain all that special. Skepticism among the British foreign policy community, imperial nostalgia and the harm a relationship of unquestioning loyalty has done in the past point toward no.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss this week held her first set of bilateral meetings with world leaders since taking office earlier this month. But there are questions about whether London can forge productive partnerships in a post-Brexit world with the U.S. and EU, and Truss’ meetings did little to assuage those doubts.
It is tempting to think that the liberal international order might have stood a better chance absent Russian revanchism and Chinese ambition. But to do so ignores the degree to which the globalization narrative disregarded globalization’s real impact on local communities. If the war in Ukraine represents a meaningful change, it is about reasserting the centrality of the state in globalization’s violent practices.
