David McCloskey

“Many of the MI6 [insiders] I interviewed, I think, frankly, resented the [CIA] and didn’t care for it. Yet there was this sense of like, ‘What can I do? We’re very reliant on this partner.’”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey said MI6 insiders he interviewed resented the CIA but felt reliant on the partnership.

“Unlike the cold war, we don’t have an overarching geopolitical enemy to unify us, and so we’re seeing more divergence.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey contrasted the current era with the cold war, noting there is no overarching geopolitical enemy to unify the US and UK.

“We’re seeing a lot of concern here in London about what do we do with this really hard-elbowed US foreign policy under Trump that seems to minimize the contribution of of allies and sort of pull traditional enemies closer,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey described concern in London over the US foreign policy under Trump minimizing allies' contributions.

“So I think I think the relationship is under a tremendous amount of strain.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey concluded that the US-UK relationship is under a tremendous amount of strain.

“There’s are a lot of areas where I could imagine the two intelligence services slightly downshifting their level of exchange.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey said he could imagine the two intelligence services slightly downshifting their level of exchange in many areas.

“A lot of the structural changes we’re seeing in the special relationship are not specific to Trump, and will outlast him,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey said structural changes in the special relationship are not specific to Trump and will outlast him.

“Almost every CIA officer I spoke to really felt like the Brits brought a great deal to the table,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey recounted that almost every CIA officer he spoke to felt the Brits brought a great deal to the table.

“If I was deep inside Vauxhall Cross [the London headquarters of MI6] working on Russia, and I had a very sensitive piece of intelligence from a sensitive source, would I have more qualms about sharing that with the Americans right now? Probably,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey suggested he would likely have qualms about sharing sensitive Russia intelligence with the Americans, recalling Trump reportedly passing Israeli intelligence to Sergei Lavrov.

“Framing it as a special relationship makes it seem like the two countries should agree on almost everything at all times, everywhere – and that is too much pressure to put on a bilateral relationship between two independent nations,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey concluded that framing the alliance as a special relationship puts too much pressure on a bilateral relationship between independent nations.

“One of the very common themes of my conversations with UK intelligence officers was this feeling of real tension with the US and fear because there wasn’t anything the UK, as the junior partner, could really do about it,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey described a common theme from his conversations with UK intelligence officers as a feeling of tension and fear due to the UK's junior-partner status.

“A lot of the cultural affinity that the two nations have have felt for each other, going back to the second world war, is thinning out a little bit – and it created a lot of opportunities to think about how this relationship, as shown in the novel, could get even worse.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey described the thinning cultural affinity between the two nations as creating opportunities to imagine the relationship worsening, as depicted in his novel.

“I found any number of CIA officers who could recount instances where they had personality conflicts with their British counterparts,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey said he found CIA officers who recounted personality conflicts with their British counterparts.

“The CIA officers felt here was a intimidation [from] the Brits, stemming from education, how articulate they were, their sense of refinement.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey described CIA officers feeling intimidated by their British counterparts' education, articulateness, and refinement.

“as a reasonable hypothetical”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey said worried British intelligence officers he consulted had posited the scenario of withholding intelligence from the US as a reasonable hypothetical.

“For example, if you’re in a third country and you have an [MI6] officer and a CIA officer pursuing the same target, and both services sort of deconflict that, it was almost always the case that the US would win out because it just has more heft and more resources,”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey gave an example of how the US typically prevails over MI6 in third-country operations due to greater heft and resources.

“It’s a cliche, but true, that nations don’t have permanent relationships – just interests.”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey concluded that nations do not have permanent relationships, just interests.

“I do think we’re at a period in the special relationship where there’s a lot more divergence between [Britain and the US],”

David McCloskey · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11

McCloskey spoke by phone from a London cab about the growing divergence in the US-UK special relationship.