This seminar will held in person as usual and will not be affected by the UCU strike.

This presentation argues that military cooperation makes an important contribution to the so-called ‘Special Relationship’. Working alongside a superpower on the battlefield has been a challenging task and the British armed services have invested considerable effort to ensure their capability to achieve this end. Looking through the lens of institutionalism helps to explain how predictability and persistent cooperation has been achieved. Two aspects will receive particular attention in this presentation. First, UK-US military cooperation has taken place within a dynamic environment in which the nature of conflict has been evolving. Their armed forces have been required to not only engage in high intensity warfare, but also fashion military doctrines to address insurgency, peace enforcement and nation-building tasks. Second, working with the US military has generated risks as well as benefits for the UK’s armed forces. The UK has engaged in tasks that have weighed heavily upon its resources and this has contributed to tensions between their two armed forces.

Wyn Rees is Professor of International Security in the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, UK. Prior to working at the University of Nottingham, he taught at the University of Leicester, the College of Europe in Bruges and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Professor Rees researches, publishes and teaches on the subjects of transatlantic security relations, British defence policy and counter-terrorism.