1/ The “Special Relationship”: How American-British Elite Alignment Shaped Post-WW2 Britain, And The Silence At The Heart Of British Politics That Still Affects Ordinary Citizens 🇺🇸🇬🇧

2/ While few would mourn the British Empire’s demise, the story of how America replaced Britain as global hegemon reveals much about how ordinary Britons have experienced the post-war world.

3/ After WW2, British and American elites crafted a narrative of “special relationship” that masked a fundamental power transition. While the Empire’s fall was both inevitable and necessary, the terms were dictated from Washington, not by postcolonial movements.

4/ Financial arrangements like the 1946 Anglo-American loan ($3.75B at 2% interest) came with strings attached – dismantling Imperial Preference trade systems that had employed thousands of British workers in manufacturing and shipping.

5/ When textile workers in Lancashire or shipbuilders in Glasgow lost jobs as American goods flooded markets previously protected by imperial trade rules, they weren’t mourning empire – they were experiencing the very direct economic impact of declining British leverage.

7/ The economic impact on ordinary Britons? Petrol rationing was imposed from December 1956 to May 1957, with ration books and coupons becoming a daily reality for British motorists – a direct consequence of American financial pressure forcing British withdrawal from Suez.

8/ But in British politics, aversion to subsequent humiliation made “Atlanticism” the dominant elite consensus – with both Conservative and Labour leaders embracing American strategic leadership as the price of continued relevance on the world stage.

9/ This elite consensus often ignored public opinion. While 67% of Britons opposed the 2003 Iraq War, Tony Blair committed troops based primarily on maintaining the “special relationship” with America – prioritising elite Atlanticism over democratic accountability.

10/ Media ownership concentrated in Atlanticist hands shaped British public discourse, consistently presenting American interests as aligned with British ones, despite growing inequality and deindustrialisation affecting working-class communities. Elite reporting focused on Washington’s politics.

11/ The physical American presence in Britain – military bases like RAF Lakenheath with nearly 5,000 US personnel – created two realities: some economic benefits for local communities but also constant reminders of Britain’s subordinate security status.

12/ British cultural institutions increasingly oriented toward American approval – with the BBC, universities, and think tanks developing transatlantic networks that prioritised US perspectives over continental European or independent British approaches.

13/ For ordinary Britons, this elite Atlanticism has meant a particular kind of globalisation: one that embraced American-style finance capitalism while dismantling the industrial policies that once supported manufacturing communities across Britain.

13/ The Brexit debate partially reflected this tension – with “sovereignty” concerns often masking deeper anxieties about decades of elite decisions that prioritised financial services and American alignment over industrial communities and European integration.

14/ American influence operated not through imperial institutions, but by use of financial leverage and elite networks to exert influence and control – making it harder for ordinary people to identify, yet just as consequential for their economic lives.

15/ Today’s Britain reflects this complicated legacy: no longer an imperial power, but shaped by elite Atlanticist decisions that often bypassed democratic input from ordinary citizens whilst transforming their economic and social landscape. The rise of Reform UK is – strangely – one of the results.