Alan Dobson (Swansea) – The Anglo-American ‘special relationship’ continues to generate discussion and controversy almost seventy years after the phrase was first made famous by Winston Churchill in his ‘Iron Curtain’ speech delivered at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, in February 1946. In this paper, Professor Alan Dobson confronts the issue of just how special the ‘Special Relationship’ has been since the end of the Second World War and examines the main threats to Anglo-American harmony in that time. In particular, he focuses on three crises – in 1946, 1949 and 1976 – that were spawned by economic issues but that connected with issues of power, identity and status to pose a greater threat to the ‘special relationship’ than the better known Suez Crisis of 1956.

Alan Dobson is an honorary Professor in the Department of Political and Cultural Studies at Swansea University. He was previously a member of the School of International Relations at St Andrews University, and for many years Professor of Politics at Dundee University. He is editor of the Journal of Transatlantic Studies and the former Chair of the Transatlantic Studies Association, both of which he founded. He has published extensively on Anglo-American relations including his well-known work Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century: Of Friendship, Conflict and the Rise and Decline of Superpowers (London: Routledge, 1995). Recent publications include Anglo-American Relations: Contemporary Perspectives (New York & London: Routledge, 2012), co-edited with Steve Marsh. His next project, also with Steve March, is an edited collection of essays on Churchill and the ‘Special Relationship’ to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Fulton speech.

Refreshments available from 17:30, presentation starts at 18:00. Attendance is free of charge but registration is required: https://anglo-american-relationship-in-jeopardy.eventbrite.co.uk