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<p>This article offers a critical reassessment of the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’ post-9/11 by examining the US–UK intervention in Syria during the 2011 Arab Spring. Drawing on a qualitative methodology, it utilises elite interviews with British and American policymakers, alongside government archives and secondary sources, to uncover the nuanced internal debates and diplomatic tensions shaping the alliance’s response. Central to the analysis is the UK’s 2013 parliamentary vote against military intervention, which signalled a notable departure from Washington’s policy and challenged conventional perceptions of British subordination within the alliance. Applying and critically engaging with Samuel Azubuike’s ‘poodleism’ framework, the article interrogates the extent to which the UK acted as a subordinate ‘poodle’ or exercised independent agency during the crisis. The findings suggest that Syria marked a departure in UK foreign policy, revealing not only a more contested Anglo-American relationship, but also the limitations of the poodleism framework in explaining this evolving dynamic.</p>

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Poodle no more: How the UK Commons vote on Syria redefined the Anglo-American alliance

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月19日

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  • Rachel Moreland

摘要

This article offers a critical reassessment of the Anglo-American ‘special relationship’ post-9/11 by examining the US–UK intervention in Syria during the 2011 Arab Spring. Drawing on a qualitative methodology, it utilises elite interviews with British and American policymakers, alongside government archives and secondary sources, to uncover the nuanced internal debates and diplomatic tensions shaping the alliance’s response. Central to the analysis is the UK’s 2013 parliamentary vote against military intervention, which signalled a notable departure from Washington’s policy and challenged conventional perceptions of British subordination within the alliance. Applying and critically engaging with Samuel Azubuike’s ‘poodleism’ framework, the article interrogates the extent to which the UK acted as a subordinate ‘poodle’ or exercised independent agency during the crisis. The findings suggest that Syria marked a departure in UK foreign policy, revealing not only a more contested Anglo-American relationship, but also the limitations of the poodleism framework in explaining this evolving dynamic.