TITLE:
Beyond Values and Interests: The Anglo-America Special Relationship during the Syrian Conflict
AUTHORS:
Justin Gibbins, Shaghayegh Rostampour
KEYWORDS:
Anglo-American, Special Relationship, Discourse, Intervention, Conflict
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Political Science,
Vol.9 No.1,
December
29,
2018
ABSTRACT: This paper attempts to reveal how intervention in international conflicts
(re) constructs the Anglo-American Special Relationship (AASR). To do this,
this article uses Syria as a case study. Analyzing parliamentary debates,
presidential/prime ministerial speeches and formal official addresses, it
offers a discursive constructivist analysis of key British and US political
spokespeople. We argue that historically embedded values and interests stemming
from unity forged by World War Two have taken on new meanings: the AASR being constructed
by both normative and strategic cultures. The former, we argue, continues to
forge a common alliance between the US and Britain, while
the latter produces notable tensions between the two states.