What remains of the special relationship between London and Washington lies buried within the bowels of their respective intelligence and defense bureaucracies — and even there the relationship grows thinner with the decline in British military capabilities and America’s efforts to pivot defense resources to Asia.
The occupant of 10 Downing Street is no longer the first person a U.S. president thinks of calling when looking for support internationally. And British prime ministers since Tony Blair have gone out of their way not to be seen as the Oval Office’s “poodle.”
This isn’t likely to change following the British election, which took place Thursday.
Of course, international events might change a future government’s focus, as they sometimes do. But British foreign relations were an afterthought until the campaign’s last days, with both Prime Minister David Cameron and main opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband paying principal attention to issues in governance and domestic affairs.
The truth is that London’s strategic vision has narrowed in recent years, more befitting its contemporary interests and capabilities and less the shadow of its empire past. This doesn’t mean the U.K.-U.S. alliance is dead — too much history for that to happen — but neither is it likely to be what it once was anytime soon.
Gary Schmitt is director of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
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