IS THERE A 'SPECIAL' RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE US AND THE UK?

WRITTEN BY HARRY C

What is the special relationship?

The 'Special Relationship' is a term used to describe the tie between the United Kingdom and the United States. However, to completely understand what the term means, we must look closer. This is because the two nations certainly have a relationship but the question is, is it a special one?

The word special means (according to the Oxford dictionary) 'better, greater or otherwise different from what is usual' To determine whether this tie is greater than usual you must look at several factors and also the roots of this relationship. How did it start? Does one nation overlook the other? It is commonly accepted that the UK acts as a sidekick to the US but this has not always been the case, take Vietnam where the UK chose not to send troops and help the Americans fight Hồ Chí Minh's men in the north of the country. The Australians did, but their relationship with the US isn't deemed 'special' so what is it that drives the UK and the US closer together or is this whole thing a misconception and in reality, the UK acts merely as a lapdog to its American counterpart?

One thing is certain and that is this case can most definitely be argued both ways There is almost no right or wrong answer – it's nothing but opinion. This opinion also depends where in this relationship's long history you look. From each president to the prime minister, every leader has different viewpoints on the relationship entirely.

Chapter 1 – When did the 'special relationship' begin?

The relationship between the two nations dates back to around 1584 when the first British colony was set up in Virginia. However, it wasn't until 1607 that the English began to settle permanently The US declared independence from Britain in 1776 and in 1783, when the Americans won the War of Independence, the UK recognized the US as an independent state According to the US Embassy, 'The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1785 The US broke relations when it declared war on the United Kingdom during the war of 1812; relations were reestablished in 1815 ' The US embassy also claims that relations were strengthened by the UK's alliance with the US during both World War I and II, the conflict in Korea (where the UK supplied the UN response to the North Korean invasion, together with the US) the Persian Gulf war, the second Gulf War (where the US and the UK led the action) and also in Afghanistan

In addition to this the US assisted the UK with information, equipment and aviation fuel during the Falklands war This tie was further bound by the UK's role as a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) which now consists of 30 countries – the US being one of them This all preserves the idea of 'The United States has no closer ally than the United Kingdom' (US Embassy) In addition to all of this, the US has donated $543 million to the IFI (International fund for Ireland) which has helped generate a much larger economy and economic opportunity in Northern Ireland Speaking of Northern Ireland – the US has prioritized keeping the peace there and developing the 1998 Belfast Agreement as well as the 2006 St Andrews Agreement to try and keep the peace between Irish 'Nationalists' and 'Republicans' (people who want a united Ireland) and 'Loyalists' and 'Unionists' (people who want Northern Ireland to remain as part of the UK) It is also stated that 'The United Kingdom and the United States continually consult on foreign policy issues and global problems and share major foreign policy and security policy objectives ' (US Embassy) This in turn strengthens the tie so, therefore, it could be argued that the length of the relationship itself makes it special due to many relationships between nations lasting nowhere near as long The Foreign Office stated that 'The special relationship continues to go from strength to strength, deepening the partnership we have shared for decades' which presents the ideology that both nations see themselves as each other's closest ally –however what caused this relationship to start?

Another reason for the close relationship between the two would go back to the colonial period in America which was ruled by the British As a result of this over onefifth of the American population has British ancestry including 34 out of 46 presidents, further backing this is that an estimated 678,000 British citizens live in the US and 139,000 Americans live in the UK (figures from the Foreign Office) The nations are also each other's biggest partners in science What is apparent, is that all of this is possible due to the Americans adopting English as their first language, therefore creating more trade and opportunities for both nations to interact with one another. If the US had chosen Spanish or French to be their main language they would have better trade with South America and Spain – or France and other French-speaking nations than the UK

Chapter 3 – reasons for the 'special relationship'

Chapter 2 – What caused the 'special relationship' to begin?

As established in the previous chapter, this relationship is preserved by similar ideologies and policies This begs the question, what else caused this relationship to not only begin but also to be maintained? The obvious answer is of course the shared language and similar culture between the two nations The foreign office said 'The UK and US have a long special relationship based on shared ideals of open government, free speech, and open markets. We work together on political affairs, including trade, finance, technology, education, arts, and sciences ' The US embassy adds to this by saying 'Bilateral cooperation reflects the common language, ideals, and democratic practices of the two nations ' As well as this the two nations are the biggest investor in each other’s economies

Looking at the previous chapters it has been well established that there certainly is a relationship between both the US and the UK – however, in the next two chapters we need to work out if it's special or not One major event that gives reasons for there being a 'special' relationship would be the Cold War The Cold War was between (predominantly) the US and the Soviet Union (now Russia and its neighbouring nations) There was no real conflict in this ' war ' which lasted from 1947-1991. Yet there was global unrest where nations weren't sure exactly what would happen next The main threat was the use of nuclear/atomic bombs During this 'conflict,' the UK and US were constantly sharing information and intel on their enemy

Intel was shared with no other nation, which, if we go back to our definition of special, this is very clearly 'different from what is usual' Richard

J Aldrich

writes 'Britain's intelligence contribution was most important, helping to offset the growing post-war asymmetry of the 'Special Relationship' (in an article named British intelligence and the ‘Special Relationship’)

This means that there most certainly is a special relationship since Britain played a key role in gathering intel which ensured that the Americans came out as the global superpower after the Cold War – this completely overrides common views on Britain being a 'lapdog' for the US and it showed just how important the two were to one another It is widely accepted that the Cold War brought both countries closer together however this isn't the only instance of this The nations have helped each other out in countless wars over the years Rafi Raza Sanghro (In an article named The Special Relationship: The US, Great Britain and Egypt over the Suez Canal) states 'During WW- II, the UK, and the USA developed close co-operation

The relationship between both countries developed to such an extent that Prime Minister Winston Churchill (whose mother was American) called it ‘the special relationship between the UK-USA ' This surely means that the relationship is special due to one of Britain's many war heroes describing it as such, clearly suggesting that yes, there most certainly is a special relationship between the two

Chapter 4 – Reasons there isn't a 'special relationship'.

Despite this, there are many instances when this tie has been far from special!

Take the Suez Crisis in 1956 for example

The 100-mile canal was constructed by the French in 1869 and by 1875 the British became the largest shareholder in the canal After conquering Egypt in 1882, the Suez Canal was an 'excellent' source of income and dominance for the British Empire

Since then, it has connected Britain with the Middle East, India, and the Pacific We must also take into account that by 1956 Britain had lost almost all of her colonies, and two thirds of the oil was shipped to the West by the Suez Canal The Egyptians thought that they had a secondary position in their own country and after the military coup in 1952 there was a greater hatred towards the British, British property was burnt and UK citizens were attacked Soon after, the boycott of British goods made it very difficult to control and use the canal It was later agreed that the UK would withdraw its troops from the canal in 1956 (Control of the canal was handed back to Egypt) Gamal Abdul Nasser (an Egyptian military General at the time) soon used the revenue from the canal to construct a dam (the US had previously refused to give a loan to Egypt to construct this dam) This infuriated the UK's government which said that 'Nasser must be broken' and that 'Europeans had constructed the canal for international trade' The UK wanted Nasser removed no matter the chaos caused However, the US decided it would be terrible for their interests to declare war on Nasser, this is because the US did not want to anger the whole Arab world. Shortened down, the US wanted to maintain its stronghold in the Middle East, and they did not want the Soviets to take their place The Soviets' support for Nasser was also making it hard for the US to side with the UK, and therefore Washington was not taking an interest in the British and their difficult time Britain had never thought she would be left alone during this important time, however they were proving that the relationship isn't always 'special'

I agree to a certain extent that the relationship between the UK and the USA is most definitely special as both nations see each other as their 'biggest ally' and share common policies as well as political and ideological views For example, the US might not be what it is today if it wasn't for British colonisers and also the UK's key role in the Cold War, without which could have resulted in the USSR becoming the global superpower (a title owned by the USA and soon to be China)

As well as this, both nations are the number one investor in each other’s economies and also share knowledge that no other nation knows Both nations fought together during both world wars and some troops even train together to this day. However, the two have also had some not so good times, deeming the relationship not 'special' in any way due to it being like any other and completely going against the previously established definition of “special” This was highlighted in moments like the Suez Crisis which caused Britain to be left alone due to Washington not wanting Moscow to fill its role in the Arab world (which would have been angered if the Americans were to declare war on General Nasser) Every relationship has its ups and downs but to be deemed special does a relationship have to be perfect? No It just has to be more significant than others, and therefore I believe that yes there is a special relationship between the UK and the USA