Public faces of the Anglo-American special relationship

The Anglo-American special relationship is in part at least a discursive construct. Its public face is co-produced by British and American officials through speech, sign and symbol with an intent to influence strategically international and domestic opinions. Much less scholarly attention has been paid to this than to Anglo-American functional cooperation. This article consequently examines how a metanarrative of continuity has been maintained since World War Two whilst Britain and the US have also subtly evolved the public face of the special relationship to suit their particular interests and to preserve its credibility. The analysis shows how Churchill crafted the original model of special relations, how Britain and the US have not always agreed on the public representation of the special relationship but nevertheless reconstructed it discursively, and how the narrative of special relations has acquired socio-cultural resilience.