The British claim to have a special relationship with the U.S., but if you mention this in Washington, no one knows what you are talking about.
The British are very stubborn. The Queen, the Commonwealth, and the special relationship with the U.S. is much more important than Europe.
I was in government for 13 years and in that time only once met the head of the German security services, and that was because he was an old friend. Otherwise, I carefully avoided having anything to do with these people. They are unavoidable but not really necessary.
Democracy is not the end point of mankind. There may be developments in many different directions in the coming centuries. Democracy has only existed for about 200 years. It started out with the American Declaration of Independence. The Americans got their ideas from the Europeans, in the main from the French, the Dutch and the British.