US Presidential election. Ben Birchall PA Wire/PA Images. All rights reserved.For decades, Britain has placed great political emphasis on the nature of its ‘special relationship’ with America. Since the 1980s, when the political ascent of the Ronald Reagan administration in Washington was matched by Margaret Thatcher’s dominance over John Bull’s Island, it has been apparent that the two countries have worked to maintain a degree of ideological alignment that reflects the modern economic, social and political nature of their societies. At times, Britain’s cultivation of the ‘special relationship’ comes across as an attempt to maintain pre-eminence in the world by tying an element of their fortunes to that of America, but it could not be disputed that the type of neoliberal, capitalist tendencies that crystallised well before the advent of the 21st century was an outlook entirely bought into by both nations.
The rise to dominance of this type of approach is pivotal here, because it has created a generation of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who are unquestioningly wedded to it. Consequently, as neoliberalism enters its period of relative decline, the political elite cannot (or do not want to) understand what is happening.
The technical differences between the rise of Donald Trump and the realities of a Brexit vote are myriad – but that is not the central point. The core development that provided the spark is the implicit rejection of neoliberalism by millions of voters in Britain and America, who are using their opportunity at the ballot box to say that contemporary politics is just not working for them. They want something new but, in facilitating diverse (and perhaps concerning) outcomes such as endorsing Trump and voting to leave the EU, they do not quite know what the 'something new' should look like yet.
