Macron-Trump bromance blossoms as the sun sets on Special Relationship

Twenty-one years ago the sun finally set on the British Empire with the handover of Hong Kong. Now, the sun is setting on what is known as the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States.

It would be easy to blame Brexit for London’s increasing irrelevance in Washington. After all, the U.S. foreign policy establishment has been rapidly pro-European Union since Henry Kissinger supposedly said that Americans needed to know who to call if they wanted to call Europe. Since then, when a president wanted something from the Old World the British prime minister was their helpmate.

There is no question that France has manoeuvred to fill the void in Europe caused by Brexit. However, the Franco-American alliance is about more than Europe. In fact, France has been America’s ally since revolutionaries waged a war against the British for independence.