Darroch Leak Reveals Wider Rift in US-UK Relationship

Several memos were sent back to the British government by the UK ambassador to the US. Kim Darroch was exposed in the media recently. In confidential correspondences, Darroch commented poorly on the Trump administration, describing it as “dysfunctional”, “unpredictable” and “inept”. In response, Trump said the US will no longer work with Darroch, and also blamed the outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May for not taking his advice on “Brexit”.

Trump just paid a state visit to the UK last month and during his time their embarrassed the UK. These actions may inevitably dampen the bilateral relations in the short term. Darroch had resigned on July 10 and the new interactions between American and British politicians once again put the two countries’ so-called “special relationship” under the spotlight. Some media reported that they have long had problems despite harmony on the surface.

Historically, the “special relationship” between the UK and the US was formed in 20th century and in time, developed through several wars. The relationship took shape during the Second World War. By the Cold War, their common goal of establishing and maintaining international order and opposing the Soviet Union laid a solid foundation for the “special relationship”, while their sharp difference in strength kept it stable. An important representation of this relation is their close cooperation in nuclear power and intelligence.

In recent years, although the top officials have made frequent mutual visits, the relational rift between the two nations has been widening further. Under the Trump administration, Brexit was said to likely reduce UK’s importance to the US who values most its role in the EU.

In addition to its national power, Both of these nations speak English as their native language and the UK is generally considered the bridge between the US and Europe. On the security issue, for instance, the UK, of all EU members, is the one that sees eye to eye with the US and has the ability to support it as well, which allows it to accommodate America’s interests in the EU to an extent. Once the UK leaves the EU, the US would have to find another member to root for it in the EU.

However, Trump’s adjustment of America’s diplomatic strategy after he came into power dealt a heavy blow to the above-mentioned “special relationship”. Following the “America first” principle, the Trump administration paid little attention to developing the “special relationship”, but became more concerned about tapping into the potential of its allies and never hesitated to sacrifice their interests in order to “make America great again”. The UK, on the other hand, hoped to continue developing the bilateral relations based on the post-war international order, common values and interests. As a result, they have obvious divergences on a series of issues, including climate change, Iran nuclear agreement and NATO.

Furthermore, the US-UK “special relationship” is also bothered by two new problems.

First, the Trump administration has been pointing fingers at UK’s internal affairs constantly, triggering strong objection within the UK. In total disregard of the Brits’ feelings, Trump has repeatedly criticized the Brexit deal negotiated between Theresa May and the EU. Besides, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo once claimed he would try to stop Jeremy Corbyn from becoming the new Prime Minister because the Labor Part he led was anti-Jewish.

Second, it’s hard for the US and the UK to reach a consensus on their trade deal any time soon because the “America first” policy dominates the negotiations. Although the US is open to free trade negotiations with the UK, it has set extremely harsh conditions. Not only did it try to include agricultural products in the negotiation, but also it demanded the UK to reform its national health-care system, both of which touched the latter’s core interests and made any concession or compromise difficult.

As a matter of fact, the US just wanted to take advantage of Brexit to further exploit the UK and maximize its own interests. This will surely twist the “special relationship” between the two countries and further deteriorate bilateral ties.