JULY 2025
Making the U.S.-UK Special
Relationship Fit for Purpose
By Max Bergmann and Lexi Linafelter
Introduction
The transatlantic relationship is being recast. The second Trump administration has made clear that the
United States wants Europe to handle European security, representing a dramatic shift in U.S. foreign
policy on a scale not seen since World War II. While the scope of the transformation of U.S. involvement
in Europe remains to be seen, the trajectory of the transatlantic alliance will also dramatically impact
the vaunted special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. These shifts
substantively challenge the status quo of British defense stratey, wedging the United Kingdom
between rising expectations for its defense capabilities and mounting resource constraints. As London
takes a sober look at its long-term approach through its recent Strategic Defense Review, a refreshed
understanding of the special relationship is critical to developing a stratey to maximize U.S.-UK
defense cooperation and equip both partners to face the challenges ahead.
This “special relationship”—a phrase coined by Winston Churchill in his famous 1946 “Iron Curtain”
speech—was forged to address crises in European and global security. The deep intelligence, defense,
and security working partnership that formed during World War II persists to this day. During the Cold
War, military and defense industrial cooperation, especially in the nuclear realm, grew signicantly
to combat the Soviet threat, as did intelligence cooperation. Since then, the United States and United
Kingdom have operated together in the Persian Gulf, the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. A shared
strategic outlook, whether in defeating Nazism, communism, or terrorism, helped forge a close bond.
A refreshed understanding of the special relationship is critical to
developing a stratey to maximize U.S.-UK defense cooperation
and equip both partners to face the challenges ahead.
