Biden to meet Queen Elizabeth to rekindle UK-US ‘special relationship’
US President Joe Biden will today meet with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
Biden arrived in Britain on Wednesday to attend the G7 summit in Cornwall. He will be the 13th sitting US president to meet the Queen and the fifth welcomed to the UK monarch’s historic residence. The visit is largely symbolic, intended to signal to strong and historic ties between the US and the UK given her role as head of state.
More significant for the future of US-UK relations was Biden’s meeting on Thursday with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. During their talks, Johnson and Biden addressed a wide range of topics, including autocratic regimes, post-pandemic recovery, and a post-Brexit agreement on the Irish border.
Biden and Johnson’s signing of a renewed Atlantic Charter—harkening back to a 1941 statement by the US and the UK setting out goals for a post-World War II world—signals to an attempt to rekindle the “special relationship” between the two countries. The new document further outlines shared global goals, including countering Russian and Chinese “malign influences” and confronting new climate and cyberspace challenges.
While this document is lofty and idealistic in tone, it speaks to the alliance-heavy approach the Biden administration will likely take to international affairs. It also hints that Biden’s approach to the G7 talks will parallel a key theme of his 2020 election campaign: unity in the face of collective threats.
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