159 central asia and the caucasus

BRITISH-AMERICAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP:

GLOBAL AND REGIONAL COMPONENTS

Makhir KHALIFA-ZADEH

Ph.D. (Political Science),

research associate, International Ecological and Energy Academy

(Baku, Azerbaijan)

he lightning counter-terrorist operation in Af-

ghanistan carried out under the U.S. aegis in

the wake of the tragic events of 9/11 demon-

strated beyond a doubt the special importance of

the British-American strategic partnership and its

stability. The U.K. actively supported the United

States in Afghanistan and in Iraq in March 2003.

By their actions the sides confirmed the partner-

ship’s key role in shaping America’s foreign and

defense policy and ensuring its security; they dem-

onstrated that London and Washington could co-

ordinate their foreign policy moves and wage a war

in any geopolitical region independently and on

their own.

It should be noted that their close foreign

policy and military cooperation is based on

long-term bilateral cooperation. According to

political analysts, consistent bilateral coopera-

tion, a product of several decades, serves as a

solid foundation for the sides’  “special rela-

tions,” which, in turn, give rise to the sides’

mutually complementary policy. The present

developments show that these close ties have

created a unique and successful political phe-

nomenon—the British-American alliance—the

influence of which will probably rise to the fore

in global politics.

The U.S. and U.K. efforts to settle some of the

international crises and their recent “blitzkrieg” in

Iraq show that with the Eastern bloc out of the way

this alliance is capturing the leading positions in the

world and is claiming the role of a global policy-

maker. The scope and the impact of the alliance on

European and world policies are assuming strate-

gic importance.

The very fact that in the post-communist era

the United States supported by Britain is active-

ly extending the zone of its political control in

Europe and Asia demonstrates that the alliance

is acquiring fundamental and policy-forming in-

fluence in the world and in geopolitical regions

(the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia among

them).

Anybody wishing to assess the alliance’s

impact on the U.S.’s policies and strategy should

pay particular attention to the European and global

components of the alliance’s policies. This approach

offers a more correct appraisal of the political situ-

ation in such complex geopolitical regions as the

Southern Caucasus and Central Asia.

T

---