Britain’s Strengthening Of The Anglo-American Special Relationship Since The Brexit Referendum

The Anglo-American special relationship is a very noteworthy and characteristic phenomenon in modern international relations.Due to the peculiar entanglement,similar language and cultural tradition,their “special relationship” has been historically described as“one nation,two states”.In different periods since the Second World War,the AngloAmerican special relationship has been endowed with different connotations,thus undergoing quite a few tests to be weakened,maintained or strengthened to different degrees.However,it has never been “broken” in essence.Besides that,America has continuously played a significant role in Britain’s foreign policy and alliance system.The unexpected and predictable outcome of the Brexit referendum in June 2016 has unprecedentedly reshaped the geopolitical pattern in terms of complexity and uncertainty in the post-World War II period,which also generates a great impact on the European integration process and the international political and economic structure.Since the Brexit Referendum,guided by the strategy of “Global Britain”,the UK has accelerated the adjustment of its foreign policy,especially actively seeking to maintain and strengthen the Anglo-American special relationship,in order to hedge the negative impact brought by Brexit.Britain has drawn upon the unremitting efforts to overcome setbacks and challenges in the way of the Anglo-American special relationship,hence the connotation of which on the whole has been expanded and deepened.Chapter one,in combination with historical data,combs the background of British policy towards the United States based on the analysis of the four shifts of British diplomatic center of gravity after the war,including the decline of the Anglo-American special relationship status after Britain’s accession to the European Community;the revival of the AngloAmerican special relationship during the Thatcher-Reagan period;the “de-specialization” of the Anglo-American special relationship in the period of Brown government;and the “Global Britain” policy and the strengthening of the Anglo-American special relationship.British policy towards America has been affected in different degrees in the four periods.The AngloAmerican special relationship starts in the Second World War and develops in different historical periods since,which has not always been at the forefront of British diplomacy.However,it becomes the priority of British diplomacy once again in the wake of the Brexit referendum.Chapter two,based on various documents published by the British government and combined with the specific policy practices of Theresa May and then Boris Johnson government,summarizes the implementation paths of the UK to strengthen the AngloAmerican special relationship since the Brexit referendum from three levels: continue the practice of cooperation in the intelligence and nuclear fields;highlight multi-dimensional cooperation with the defense and security of the US;and deepen policy convergence in the diplomatic and economic fields.Through relevant paths,the UK has strengthened the mutual exploitability,common threat perception and mutual trust of the Anglo-American special relationship.Aiming at accounting for what is behind the facts described in t he previous chapter,chapter three argues the UK has worked to strengthen the Anglo-American special relationship since the Brexit referendum out of three factors: Britain’s identity with and value protection to the United States;its strategic reliance on the relationship;and the negative impact of Brexit from the perspective of the Anglo-American special relationship.Chapter four analyzes the characteristics of Britain’s efforts to strengthen the Anglo-American special relationship since the Brexit referendum and the impact on the results of Britain’s deeds.Based on the description and explanation of the previous two chapters,this chapter believes that Britain’s reinforcement behavior has three characteristics,including the enhancement of the practicality of the strategy towards United States,the obvious adherence to the United States and the existence of ideology.It is also believed that the result of Britain’s strengthening of the Anglo-American special relationship since the Brexit referendum brings about the coexistence of the positive response and “America first” policy of the US,which leads to not only the continuous increase of the instability of the triangle relationship between the UK,the US and Europe,but great impact and gradual decline of Sino-Britain relationship.Based on the above discussion and conclusion,in the conclusion part,this paper puts forward relevant countermeasures for China,and believes that China should properly handle SinoAmerican Relations and Sino-Britain relations,strengthen military capacity building,promote military exchanges between China and the UK,build new partnerships,and promote win-win international cooperation.