Two Hundred Years of British-Russian Relations

In conversation with John Dean.

Britain’s relationship with Russia is surprisingly under-explored. When the two countries formed a pragmatic alliance at Navarino in 1827, relations then fell apart with the Crimean War. Not until the 1917 Revolution did Winston Churchill – opposed to Bolshevism – advocate diplomacy with Russia which necessitated allying with the Soviets against Nazi Germany in WWII. Bringing us into the 21st century, Lord Owen, a former Foreign Secretary, chronicles how both countries have responded to their geopolitical decline.