CHALLENGES TO THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM THROUGH THE PRISM OF THE ACTIONS OF PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON

Zuzanna Ptaszyńska

Abstract

The United States and the United Kingdom have special political, economic, military and cultural relations. The new American administration is restoring priority to multilateralism and old alliances, and the British authorities have announced an expansion of international engagement. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fight against climate change, the growth of China’s influence, and threats to cybersecurity are the biggest international challenges in the view of both states. The US and the UK urge other states to jointly take responsibility and work out solutions to the world’s most crucial problems. The United Kingdom left the European Union in January 2020 and, in line with the rhetoric of the government, it regained a sovereign foreign policy. US-UK relations could deepen but new troubles appeared, for example the need to negotiate a new trade deal. However, the differences between Joe Biden and Boris Johnson are less important in the face of common interests, as evidenced by the signing of a new Atlantic Charter by both leaders in June 2021 or increasing joint engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

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