In 1940, Winston Churchill called for a special relationship between the United States and the British Empire and Commonwealth. He called for one again whilst speaking in Fulton, Missouri on the 5th of March 1946, the same speech in which he described the ‘iron curtain’ dividing Europe. Has there in fact been an Anglo-American special relationship since 1945? If so, what is it? Has it benefitted either country? And if it exists, will it continue to do so?
Kathleen Burk takes a sceptical view of the recurring hymns across the sea, whilst assessing the uses and abuses of the relationship by both countries.
Co-presented with Sydney Ideas, the US Studies Centre, and the Laureate Research Program in International History at the University of Sydney.