LONDON – President Joe Biden’s conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last month will not be one of the most important policy movements of most observers, but the fact that one of the first leaders of the American leader after his inauguration was the British leader , was very strong. felt in London.
“I was reassured by Joe Biden’s early outreach to Prime Minister Johnson, which I think was reassuring to many people,” said Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, a think tank in Washington.
What world leader is a new US president talking to, and when are clues being closely watched over the priorities and preferences of the incoming government? The UK attaches more than most value to ties across the Atlantic – known as the “special relationship”, a phrase coined by British warlord Winston Churchill more than 70 years ago. Successive premiers rushed to be among the first to receive a call or visit from a new president, indicating the country’s lasting bond.
However, the question of whether Johnson will be able to maintain close relations with the United States has caused great concern. Johnson worked hard to cultivate ties with former President Donald Trump, a fellow populist with a shared contempt for Europe. But Johnson has long been at odds with Biden, who once called him a “physical and emotional clone of Trump” and made the restoration of America’s international alliances a centerpiece of his foreign policy agenda.
‘The next four years are a challenging time for the special relationship. “The British government must handle the relationship with the Biden presidency carefully,” Gardiner said.
If you do, you must overcome personal and political hostility. Ties were strained in 2016 when then-President Barack Obama warned that if Britain left the European Union, it would be ‘back in line’ for any subsequent trade deal with the US – Johnson, the then mayor of London, who had a made agreement, made angry. Brexit its signature policy initiative.
Biden also warned Johnson last year against a Brexit deal that would create a hard border between the UK and Ireland and undermine the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.
Johnson was also offended by the removal of a bust of Churchill, his personal hero, from Obama’s oval office, and wrote that the snuff was a symptom of Obama’s “partially Kenyan” legacy, which is his “preference for the British Empire, “Given its colonial rule over Kenya. Critics condemned the remark as racist.
Trump, on the other hand, encouraged Britain to leave the EU and plunged the prospect of a quick and ‘massive’ US trade deal as a reward. Britain duly condemned Trump and rolled up the red carpet and the royal family during a rare state visit in 2019. Yet it got nothing back.
A State Department spokesman said the countries share a special relationship that is a fundamental aspect of US foreign policy and that we will continue our strong cooperation with our strongest ally on our shared priorities. ”
The value that the UK attaches to its relationship with the US means that such snubs are very painful. In the second half of the 20th century, when Britain’s empire shrank, it saw its influence in Washington as a measure of its own global stature.
However, according to historian and journalist Max Hastings, the UK’s obsession with the special relationship is leading to a distorted view of the country’s status on the world stage.
‘Great Britain is an extremely pleasant middle-class force, with in quite good times quite a successful economy. “But it is no longer one of the most important countries in the world,” he said.
Download the NBC News app for news and politics
In recent years, Britain has fought alongside US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, become a close security and intelligence partner, and invested heavily in the US economy. Hastings, however, insists that both parties acted merely in their own national interest, not out of any shared sentimentality.
“Never spoil, the United States can do us any favors. “It does not mean there are grounds to have a grievance against the United States, it is just realistic,” he said.
“I believe it’s a terrible British vice – especially a Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom – to believe that there is a special relationship that will make the Americans do us a favor.”
As Biden focuses on the coronavirus pandemic and the build-up of the U.S. economy, that is unlikely to change any time soon.
“I think there will be a disappointment in the UK that the trade agreement is less of a priority for Joe Biden’s government,” said Lewis Lukens, former deputy head of the US embassy in London and now a senior partner at Signum Global Advisors. said. , a business consulting firm focused on the impact of politics and policy.
Yet there are opportunities for Biden and Johnson to work together. In their phone call, the two leaders discussed working together to tackle climate change and the pandemic, and expressed their shared commitment to NATO. Britain and the US also have views on Russia, Iran and China.
After the past four years, however, the UK may have to prove itself a worthy ally.
“Boris Johnson needs to be ready to go to Joe Biden and say, ‘This is how we can play a crucial role in helping you achieve your policy goals and meet the challenges,'” Lukens said.
“But at the same time it gives us the opportunity to show that we are still a relevant player in the world. ”