HAVE WE HIT AN ANGLO-AMERICAN CROSSROADS?
CHACR COMMENTARY // JUNE 2025
BY: Major Rocco P. Santurri III, freelance author and reservist in the US Army
I
N 1946, a triumphant but politically diminished Sir Winston Churchill travelled to America on a speaking tour of several universities. Despite losing the 1945 general election, the aura and mystique of Sir Winston was arguably at its zenith; crowds across America flocked to greet the British war hero. But while post-victory optimism was plentiful on both sides of the pond, Churchill struck a cautionary tone in his speeches. He warned of an “Iron Curtain” descending upon Europe, courtesy of allyturned-adversary, the Soviet Union. Difficult times lay ahead, Churchill warned, one that would require iron-clad cooperation between America and Western Europe, with the foundational piece being
what he coined the “special relationship” between the UK and America. Over the next several decades, even Sir Winston might have been pleasantly surprised by the depth and longevity of the special relationship and its offspring, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The spirit that fuelled shoulder-to-shoulder battles and the storming of the beaches of Normandy on D-Day continued post 1945, with the UK and America conducting combat operations varying in scale and scope from Seoul to Belgrade, Baghdad to Kabul, and Basra to Helmand. Perhaps equally important, the special relationship also facilitated an enduring cooperative of shared interests and security concerns,
the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence apparatus. If NATO was the first offspring of the special relationship, the Five Eyes might be considered its less publicised but overachieving sibling. While conflicts are episodic, the need for intelligence is constant and, in a perfect world, helps states avoid conflict altogether – making the Five Eyes indispensable. Both the special relationship and the Five Eyes remain critical to security in Europe, currently under a renewed threat from a revanchist Russia willing to start the first continental war since 1945 to achieve its revisionist dreams. Indeed, coordinated support from the US, UK and NATO to Ukraine has enabled the out-manned and out-gunned underdog to turn a three-day operation into a three-year
1 // ANGLO-AMERICAN CROSSROADS? // CHACR
grinding slugfest. Again, the special relationship weathered another challenge and, although strains are showing, prevented the conquest of Ukraine and pre-empted further Russian expansion westward. It is also noteworthy to mention the global reach of the special relationship far beyond Europe; it has, for example, spawned additional offspring in Asia with the establishment of AUKUS. While the commitment of each partner to this entity is reasonably dependable, the special relationship remains the bedrock upon which all else rests. Given the American ‘pivot’ to Asia, the meteoric military ascent of China and the rapidly expanding RussianNorth Korean partnership, the