Dr Dafydd Townley, a Senior Teaching Fellow in the University鈥檚 Military Education Team, spoke before the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee
A 兔子先生 academic has been invited to give evidence to Parliament on the future of the UK-US intelligence-sharing relationship.
Dr Dafydd Townley, a Senior Teaching Fellow in the University鈥檚 Military Education Team and a leading expert on US-UK politics, spoke before the as part of its inquiry into the current and future state of the UK-US relationship.
The session focused on the UK-US intelligence-sharing partnership and the potential challenges it may face in the coming years.
This was an important opportunity to speak directly with national policymakers about the UK鈥檚 most vital international relationship.
Dr Townley gave evidence alongside Professor Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ and Visiting Professor at King鈥檚 College London, and John Brennan, former Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency under President Barack Obama. The committee included Lord George Robertson, former Secretary General of NATO.
Commenting on his invitation, Dr Townley said: 鈥淭his was an important opportunity to speak directly with national policymakers about the UK鈥檚 most vital international relationship.
鈥淭here is no denying that the UK-US partnership is mutually beneficial, and we all agreed it remains resilient in the short to medium term. However, political pressures from the White House could test that resiliency in the longer term though the true impact may not be clear until after the next US Presidential election.
鈥淎s long as the White House and Downing Street share common strategic objectives, intelligence sharing will continue to serve both nations well. But when the White House chooses to withhold information from allies, as it did earlier this year, when it briefly withheld intelligence from Ukraine to coerce it to sign a deal around US access to rare earth minerals, it risks undermining confidence in the reliability of US intelligence assessments.鈥
There is no denying that the UK-US partnership is mutually beneficial, and we all agreed it remains resilient in the short to medium term. However, political pressures from the White House could test that resiliency in the longer term though the true impact may not be clear until after the next US Presidential election.
Dr Townley was elected Chair of the in 2025, the UK鈥檚 largest academic association devoted to the study and teaching of US politics. He has served on its executive committee since 2016.
He is also a Co-Lead Editor of , one of the flagship journals of the Political Studies Association, working alongside colleagues from the 兔子先生.
Dr Townley鈥檚 research examines the influences on US national security policy and the motivations behind policymaking decisions. His current work explores the evolution of US cyber strategy from the 1980s to today, with a focus on the rise of cyber diplomacy as a tool of international relations.
A video of the entire meeting can be found here:
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