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Special Relationship

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Special relationship



 
 
The phrase special relationship is often used to describe the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural and historical relations between the United States and the United Kingdom
Anglo-American relations

File:President Barack Obama meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown.jpgAnglo-American relations are used to describe the relations of the United States and the United Kingdom....
, following its use in a 1946 speech by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
. While both countries maintain close relationships with many others, the level of cooperation in military planning, execution of military operations, nuclear weapons technology and intelligence sharing with each other has been described as "unparalleled" among major powers.

existence of a special relationship between the two governments has been recognized since the nineteenth century, not least by rival powers.






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Churchill and Roosevelt Yalta
The phrase special relationship is often used to describe the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural and historical relations between the United States and the United Kingdom
Anglo-American relations

File:President Barack Obama meets Prime Minister Gordon Brown.jpgAnglo-American relations are used to describe the relations of the United States and the United Kingdom....
, following its use in a 1946 speech by Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
. While both countries maintain close relationships with many others, the level of cooperation in military planning, execution of military operations, nuclear weapons technology and intelligence sharing with each other has been described as "unparalleled" among major powers.

History and overview

The existence of a special relationship between the two governments has been recognized since the nineteenth century, not least by rival powers. During World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, as an observer noted, 'Great Britain and the United States integrated their military efforts to a degree unprecedented among major allies in the history of warfare.' The special relationship was given renewed impetus and publicity at the onset of the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 by Winston Churchill's
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
 'Sinews of Peace Address' in Fulton, Missouri
Fulton, Missouri

Fulton is a city in Callaway County, Missouri, Missouri, the United States of America. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Area....
. Churchill's mother was American, and he felt keenly the links between the English-speaking peoples. He first used the term in 1945 to describe not the U.S-UK relationship alone but the UK relationship with both the United States and Canada. A year later he again used the phrase, this time to note the special relationship between the United States on the one hand, and the English-speaking countries of the British Commonwealth and Empire under the leadership of the United Kingdom on the other.

Notably, the relationship between the US and UK seems independent of the relative closeness of the countries' heads of state. During World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, for example, President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. A devout Presbyterianism and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913....
 and Prime Minister David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Order of Merit , Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom statesman and the only Wales Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - he is also the only one to have spoken English language as a second language, Welsh language having been his first....
 had enjoyed nothing that could be described as a special relationship, although Lloyd George's wartime Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit , Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician and statesman....
, got on well with Wilson during his time in the United States and helped convince a skeptical Wilson to enter the war.

Under Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, Order of the Garter, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was one of the most prominent British politicians of the later half of the 20th century....
 the United Kingdom, as co-chairman with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 of the Geneva Conference, acted as a mediator in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
 and gave only qualified support to U.S. policy in Vietnam (at least officially - and it did not commit regular forces, only special forces
Special forces

Special Forces , also known as, Special Operation Forces is a generic term for highly-trained military teams/units that conduct specialized Military operation such as reconnaissance, unconventional warfare, and counter-terrorism actions....
 instructors). Militarily this stance was however consistent with an earlier burden-sharing arrangement reached under Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, Order of Merit, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
 whereby British forces had been concentrated against the Communist insurgency
Malayan Emergency

The Malayan Emergency refers to a guerrilla warfare for independence fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan Races Liberation Army, the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960; some have gone as far as to characterise it as a civil war....
 in Malaya
Malaya

Malaya can refer to:...
. Australia and New Zealand were English-speaking allies of the United States within the British Commonwealth that did commit regular forces to fight in the Vietnam War.

The 'special relationship' was most recently demonstrated during UK's support for the U.S. led intervention in Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
.

Military cooperation

The intense level of military co-operation began with the creation of the Combined Chiefs of Staff in December 1941, a military command with authority over all American and British operations. This cooperation has increased steadily since the early 1950s when military contacts were re-established.

Shared military bases

Diegogarcia
Since the Second World War and the subsequent Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade

The Berlin Blockade, also known as the "German hold-up" was one of the first major international crisis of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the three Western powers' railroad and road access to the western sectors of Berlin that they had been controlling....
, the United States has maintained substantial forces in Great Britain. In July 1948, the first American deployment began with the stationing of B-29 bomber
B-29 Superfortress

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was a four-engine Fixed-wing aircraft#Propeller aircraft heavy bomber that was flown by the United States Military in World War II and the Korean War, and by other nations afterwards....
s. Currently, an important base is the radar
Radar

Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic radiation waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain....
 facility RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales

RAF Fylingdales is a United Kingdom Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its Motto is "Vigilamus" . It is a radar Military base and part of the United States-controlled Ballistic Missile Early Warning System ....
, part of the U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System

The United States Air Force Ballistic Missile Early Warning System was the first operational ballistic missile detection radar. The original system was built in 1959 and could provide long-range warning of a ballistic missile attack over the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere....
, although this base is operated under entirely British command and has only one USAF representative for largely administrative reasons. Several bases with a significant U.S. presence include RAF Menwith Hill (only a short distance from RAF Fylingdales), RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath

RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force airfield located near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although technically an RAF station, it primarily hosts United States Air Force units and personnel....
 and RAF Mildenhall
RAF Mildenhall

File:100arw-tail.jpgRAF Mildenhall is a Royal Air Force station located at Mildenhall, Suffolk in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as an RAF station, it primarily supports United States Air Force operations....
.

During the Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
 critics of the special relationship jocularly referred to the United Kingdom as the "biggest aircraft carrier in the world."

Following the end of the Cold War, which was the main rationale for their presence, the number of U.S. facilities in the United Kingdom has been reduced in number in line with the U.S. military worldwide. Despite this, these bases have been used extensively in support of various peacekeeping
Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping, as defined by the United Nations, is "a way to help countries torn by conflict create conditions for sustainable peace." It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
 and offensive operations of the 1990s and early 21st century.

The two nations also jointly operate a military facility on Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is the largest atoll, in terms of land area, in Chagos Archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km south of the southern coast of India....
 in the British Indian Ocean Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory

The British Indian Ocean Territory or Chagos Islands is an British overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean, halfway between Africa and Indonesia....
 and on Ascension Island
Ascension Island

Ascension Island is an isolated island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean, around from the coast of Africa, and from the coast of South America....
, a dependency of Saint Helena
Saint Helena

Saint Helena , named after Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcano origin and a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic Ocean....
 in the Atlantic Ocean.

Nuclear weapons development

The Quebec Agreement
Quebec Agreement

The Quebec Agreement was an United Kingdom-Canada-United States document which outlined the terms of nuclear nonproliferation between the United Kingdom and the United States....
 of 1943 paved the way for the two countries to develop atomic weapons side by side, the United Kingdom handing over vital documents from its own Tube Alloys
Tube Alloys

Tube Alloys was the code-name for the British nuclear weapon directorate during World War II, when the very possibility of nuclear weapons was kept at such a high level of secrecy that it had to be referred to by code even in the highest circles of government....
 project and sending a delegation to assist in the work of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was the project to develop the first atomic weapon during World War II; involving the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada....
. America kept the results of the work to itself due to the postwar McMahon Act, but after Britain developed its own thermonuclear weapons, the United States agreed to supply delivery systems, designs and nuclear material for British warheads through the 1958 U.S.-UK Mutual Defence Agreement.

Britain purchased first Polaris and then the Trident
Trident missile

The Trident missile is a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle submarine-launched ballistic missile designed by Lockheed Martin Space Systems in the United States which is armed with nuclear weapons and is launched from Ballistic missile submarines, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines....
 system which remains in use today. The 1958 agreement gave the UK access to the facilities at the Nevada Test Site
Nevada Test Site

The Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles northwest of the City of Las Vegas, Nevada, near ....
 and it would conduct a total of 25 underground tests there before the cessation of testing in 1991. The agreement under which this partnership operates was recently updated; it is argued that U.S. assistance for the UK nuclear deterrent is in breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is a treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, opened for signature on July 1, 1968....
.

Military procurement

Lockheed F 35 Joint Strike Fighter
The United Kingdom is the only "level one" international partner in the largest U.S. aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
 procurement project in history, the F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a Fighter aircraft#Fifth generation jet fighters , single-seat, single-engine, Stealth aircraft-capable military aviation strike fighter, a Multirole combat aircraft that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and Aerial warfare missions....
 program. The United Kingdom was involved in writing the specification and selection and its largest defense contractor BAE Systems
BAE Systems

BAE Systems plc is a British defense contractor and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, Hampshire, Hampshire, England, that has global interests, particularly in North America through its subsidiary BAE Systems Inc....
 is a partner of the American prime contractor Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....
. BAE Systems is also the largest foreign supplier to the United States Defense Department and has been permitted to buy important U.S. defense companies such as Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic Systems
Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic Systems

Lockheed Martin Aerospace Electronic Systems was a division of Lockheed Martin. Following a strategic review of Lockheed's businesses in 1999 the division was identified as a candidate for disposal....
 and United Defense
United Defense

United Defense Industries was a United States defense contractor which is now part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments. This company produces combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, Transporter erector launcher and munition....
.

Other joint projects include the RAF Harrier GR9 or United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing Military power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver Marine Air-Ground Task Force....
 AV-8B Harrier II
AV-8B Harrier II

The McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harrier II is a family of second-generation vertical/short takeoff and landing or V/STOL ground-attack aircraft of the late 20th century....
 and the U.S. Navy
United States Navy

The United States Navy is the navy of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy currently has approximately 331,682 personnel on active duty as of 31 December 2008 and 124,000 in the United States Navy Reserve....
 T-45 Goshawk
T-45 Goshawk

The T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the BAE Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas and British Aerospace , the T-45 is used by the United States Navy as an aircraft carrier-capable trainer....
. Both nations also operate several common designs, including the Javelin anti-tank missile
FGM-148 Javelin

The FGM-148 Javelin is an United States-made man-portable anti-tank guided missile fielded to replace the Dragon antitank missile....
, M270 rocket artillery
M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System

The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is a multiple rocket launcher, a type of rocket artillery.The first rocket systems were delivered to the United States Army in 1983....
, the Apache gunship
AH-64 Apache

The AH-64 Apache is an all-weather day-night military attack helicopter with a four-bladed main and tail rotor and a crew of two pilots who sit in tandem....
, C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules

The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft built by Lockheed. It is the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide....
 and C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft.

Other areas of cooperation


Intelligence sharing

A cornerstone of the special relationship is the collecting and sharing of intelligence. This originated during World War II with the sharing of code breaking knowledge and led to the 1943 BRUSA Agreement
1943 BRUSA Agreement

The 1943 BRUSA Agreement was an agreement between the British Empire and United States governments to facilitate co-operation between the US War Department and the British Government Communications Headquarters#Government Code and Cypher School ....
, signed at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park

Bletchley Park, also known as Station X, is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire. Since 1967, Bletchley has been part of Milton Keynes, England....
. After WWII the common goal of monitoring and countering the threat of communism prompted the UK-USA Security Agreement of 1948. This agreement brought together the SIGINT
SIGINT

Signals intelligence is list of intelligence gathering disciplines by interception of signals, whether between people or between machines , or mixtures of the two....
 organizations of the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand and is still in place today.

One present-day example of such cooperation is the UKUSA Community
UKUSA Community

The UK-USA Security Agreement is an agreement or treaty that established an coalition of five English-speaking countries for the purpose of sharing intelligence....
, comprising the USA's National Security Agency
National Security Agency

The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a Cryptology Intelligence agency of the Federal government of the United States, administered as part of the United States Department of Defense....
, the United Kingdom's Government Communications Headquarters
Government Communications Headquarters

The Government Communications Headquarters is a United Kingdom intelligence agency responsible for providing signals intelligence and information assurance to the Her Majesty's Government and British Armed Forces as required, under the guidance of the Joint Intelligence Committee ....
, Australia's Defence Signals Directorate
Defence Signals Directorate

Defence Signals Directorate is an government of Australia intelligence agency responsible for signals intelligence and information security ....
 and Canada's Communications Security Establishment
Communications Security Establishment

The Communications Security Establishment Canada is the Canada Government of Canada's national Cryptology Intelligence agency. Administered under the Department of National Defence , it is charged with the duty of keeping track of foreign SIGINT , and protecting Canadian government electronic information and communication networks....
 collaborating on ECHELON
ECHELON

ECHELON is a name used in global media and in popular culture to describe a signals intelligence collection and analysis network operated on behalf of the five signatory states to the UK-USA Security Agreement ....
, a global intelligence gathering system. Moreover, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada are the only countries which the CIA has publicly stated that it does not spy upon. This is generally interpreted as meaning that the CIA does not maintain intelligence agents in these aforementioned countries.

Economic policy

The United States is the largest source of Foreign Direct Investment to the UK economy, likewise the United Kingdom is the largest single investor in the U.S. economy. British trade and capital have been important components of the American economy since its colonial inception.

Personal relationships

Roosevelt and Churchill
The relationship often depends on the personal relations between British Prime Ministers and U.S. Presidents. The first example was the close relationship between Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour, Territorial Decoration, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Politics of the United Kingdom known chiefly for his leadership of the United King...
 and Franklin Roosevelt who were in fact distantly related .

Prior to their collaboration during World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 Anglo-American relations had been somewhat frosty. President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States. A devout Presbyterianism and leading intellectual of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913....
 and Prime Minister David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor Order of Merit , Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom statesman and the only Wales Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - he is also the only one to have spoken English language as a second language, Welsh language having been his first....
 had enjoyed nothing that could be described as a special relationship, although Lloyd George's wartime Foreign Secretary, Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour

Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, Order of the Garter, Order of Merit , Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician and statesman....
, got on well with Wilson during his time in the United States and helped convince a previously skeptical Wilson to enter the war. Churchill, himself half-American, spent much time and effort cultivating the relationship which paid dividends for the war effort though it cost Britain much of her wealth and ultimately her empire. Two great architects of the special relationship on a practical level were Field Marshal Sir John Dill
John Dill

Field Marshal Sir John Greer Dill, Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Distinguished Service Order was a United Kingdom commander in World War I and World War II who played a significant role in the formation of the "special relationship" between the United Kingdom and the United States....
 and General George Marshall
George Marshall

George Catlett Marshall was an United States Military of the United States leader, Chief of Staff of the United States Army, United States Secretary of State, and the third United States Secretary of Defense....
 whose excellent personal relations and senior positions (Roosevelt was especially close to Marshall) oiled the wheels of the alliance considerably.

The links that were created during the war—such as the UK military liaison officers posted to Washington—persist. However for Britain to gain any benefit from the relationship it became clear that a constant policy of personal engagement was required. Britain starting off in 1941 as somewhat the senior partner had quickly found itself the junior. The diplomatic policy was thus two pronged, encompassing strong personal support and equally forthright military and political aid. These two have always operated in tandem, that is to say the best personal relationships between British prime ministers and American presidents have always been those based around shared goals. For example, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson

James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, Order of the Garter, Order of the British Empire, Fellow of the Royal Society, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was one of the most prominent British politicians of the later half of the 20th century....
's government would not commit troops to Vietnam
Vietnam War

The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina Wars, the Vietnam Conflict, or often in Vietnam the American War occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia from 1959 to April 30, 1975....
. Harold Wilson and Lyndon Johnson did not get on especially well.

President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher At Camp David 1986
Peaks in the special relationship include the bonds between Harold Macmillan
Harold Macmillan

Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, Order of Merit, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council was a British Conservative Party politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963....
 (who like Churchill had an American mother) and John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
, and between Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher Order of the Garter, Order of Merit, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Fellow of the Royal Society was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990....
 and Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
. Nadirs have included the U.S. government's opposition to UK operations in Suez under Anthony Eden
Anthony Eden

Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, Order of the Garter, Military Cross, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British people Conservative Party politician, who was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for three periods between 1935 and 1955, including during World War II....
 and Wilson's refusal to enter the war in Vietnam
Vietnam

Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
.

While the relationship between the two countries may have been strained by Reagan's neutrality in the initial phases of the Falklands War
Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict/Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands....
, this was more than countered by the U.S. Defense Secretary, Casper Weinberger, who approved shipments of the latest weapons to the massing British task force. Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
 was poorly disposed towards John Major
John Major

Sir John Major, Order of the Garter, Order of the Companions of Honour, Chartered Institute of Bankers , was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the United Kingdom and Leaders of the Conservative and Unionist Party of the Conservative Party during 1990 to 1997....
 after it was alleged that the Conservative government had allowed his Republican opponents access to British documents detailing his time at Oxford University. Friction in their relationship was also demonstrated when in March 1995 Major refused to answer the phone calls of Clinton over his decision to invite Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin

Sinn F?in is a political party in Ireland. The current party, led by Gerry Adams, was formed following a split in January 1970 and traces its origins back to the original Sinn F?in party formed in 1905....
 leader Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams, Member of the Legislative Assembly , UK Member of Parliament is an Irish people Irish republicanism politician and Abstentionism Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West ....
 to the White House
White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian architecture and has been the executive residence of every U.S....
 for Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day , colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick , one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17....
.

The personal diplomacy of British prime minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the head of government Her Majesty's Government....
 Tony Blair
Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007....
 and U.S. president
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
 George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 served to highlight the special relationship. Despite their political differences on non-strategic matters, their shared beliefs and responses to the international situation formed a commonality of purpose following the September 11 Attacks in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 and Washington DC. Blair, like Bush, was convinced of the importance of moving against the perceived threat to world peace and international order.

Blair flew to Washington immediately after 9/11 to affirm British solidarity with the United States. In a speech to the United States Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
, nine days after the attacks, Bush declared "America has no truer friend than Great Britain." Following that speech Blair embarked on two months of diplomacy gathering international support for military action. The BBC estimates that, in total, the prime minister held 54 meetings with world leaders and travelled more than 40,000 miles (60,000 km). Blair's leadership role in the Iraq War
Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing conflicts military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a Multinational force in Iraq now led by and composed almost entirely of troops from the United States and United King...
 helped him to sustain a strong relationship with Bush through the end of his time as prime minister, but it was unpopular within his own party and lowered his public approval ratings. It also alienated some of his European partners, including the leaders of France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
.

The 2006 Lebanon War also exposed some minor differences in attitudes over the Middle East. The strong support offered by Blair and the Bush administration to Israel was not wholeheartedly shared by the British cabinet or the British public. On 27 July, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett
Margaret Beckett

Margaret Mary Beckett is a British politician for the Labour Party . She is the Member of Parliament for Derby South and the current Minister of State for Housing and Planning....
 criticised the United States for "ignoring procedure" when using Prestwick Airport as a stop off point for delivering laser-guided bomb
Laser-guided bomb

A laser-guided bomb is a precision-guided munition that uses semi-active laser homing to strike a designated target with greater accuracy than a free-fall bomb....
s to Israel. On 17 August, The Independent
The Independent

The Independent is a United Kingdom Compact newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News & Media. It is nicknamed the Indy, with the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, being the Sindy....
 reported that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
John Prescott

John Leslie Prescott is a United Kingdom Labour Party politician, former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Secretary of State and current Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kingston upon Hull East ....
 had said that George Bush was "crap
Crap

Crap may refer to:* Crap, a slang word for feces* Crap, a slang word synonymous with shit* Crap, a slang word synonymous with bullshit* Craps, a casino dice game...
" with regard to the Middle East Roadmap
Road map for peace

The "road map" for peace is a plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposed by a "Quartet for the Middle East" of international entities: the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations....
, which Prescott felt had been a condition of his support for the war in Iraq.

Public opinion

Perspectives on the special relationship differ. Polls of the U.S. public show that the United Kingdom, as an "ally in the war on terror" is viewed more positively than any other country. 76% of Americans polled viewed the British as an "ally in the War on Terror" according to Rasmussen Reports. According to Harris Interactive 74% of Americans view Great Britain as a "close ally in the war in Iraq", well ahead of next-ranked Canada at 48%.

A June 2006 poll by Populus for The Times
The Times

The Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of News International....
 showed that the number of Britons agreeing that "it is important for Britain’s long-term security that we have a close and special relationship with America" had fallen to 58% (from 71% in April), and that 65% believed that "Britain’s future lies more with Europe than America." 44% agreed that "America is a force for good in the world." A later poll reported in The Guardian
The Guardian

Sorry, no overview for this topic
 during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict

The 2006 Lebanon War, known in Lebanon as the July War and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day war in Lebanon and northern Israel....
 said that 63% of Britons felt that the United Kingdom is tied too closely to the United States. A 2008 poll by The Economist
The Economist

The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international relations publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in London....
 has shown that Britons' views differ considerably from Americans' views when asked about the topics of religion, values, and national interest. The Economist remarked:

For many Britons, steeped in the lore of how English-speaking democracies rallied around Britain in the second world war, [the special relationship] is something to cherish. For Winston Churchill ... it was a bond forged in battle. On the eve of the war in Iraq, as Britain prepared to fight alongside America, Tony Blair spoke of the "blood price" that Britain should be prepared to pay in order to sustain the relationship.

In America, it is not nearly so emotionally charged. Indeed, American politicians are promiscuous with the term, trumpeting their "special relationships" with Israel, Germany and South Korea, among others. "Mention the special relationship to Americans and they say yes, it's a really special relationship," notes sardonically Sir Christopher Meyer, a former British ambassador to Washington.


Iraq

Refusal of the US Government to heed British advice regarding post-war plans for Iraq
Iraq

Iraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros Mountains, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, specifically the critical importance of preventing the power vacuum
Power vacuum

A power vacuum is an expression for a politics situation that can occur when a government has no identifiable central authority. The metaphor implies that, like a physical vacuum, other forces will tend to "rush in" to fill the vacuum as soon as it is created, perhaps in the form of an armed militia or insurgents, military Coup d'?tat, warlor...
 in which the current insurgency
Insurgency

An insurgency is a rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognised as belligerents. Not all rebellions are insurgencies, because a state of belligerency may exist between one or more sovereign states and rebel forces....
 plaguing the country was allowed to develop. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, from March 20 to May 1, 2003, was spearheaded by the United States, backed by United Kingdom forces and smaller contingents from Australia, Spain, Poland and Denmark....
, the United Kingdom criticized the United States' de-Ba'athification policy i.e. the purging of Saddam Hussein's party from government. Geoff Hoon
Geoff Hoon

Geoffrey 'Geoff' William Hoon is a United Kingdom politician. He is Labour Party Member of Parliament for Ashfield , as well as former Labour Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury....
, then the UK defence secretary, has stated that the United Kingdom "lost the argument" with the Bush administration over rebuilding Iraq. Speaking on the same topic, Prince Andrew said there are "occasions when people in the UK would wish that those in responsible positions in the U.S. might listen and learn from our experiences", that there is "healthy skepticism" in the United Kingdom toward what is said in Washington DC, and a feeling of "why didn't anyone listen to what was said [in the UK] and the advice that was given." CNN
CNN

Cable News Network, almost always referred to by its initialism CNN, is a major US Cable News Network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first station to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television network in the United States....
 has acknowledged that the Prince's views are widely shared in the UK.

After the Iraq War
Iraq War

The Iraq War, also known as the Second Gulf War, the Occupation of Iraq, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is an ongoing conflicts military campaign which began on March 20, 2003 with the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a Multinational force in Iraq now led by and composed almost entirely of troops from the United States and United King...
, there were a series of coroner
Coroner

A coroner or forensics examiner is an official responsible for investigating deaths, particularly some of those happening under unusual circumstances, and determining the cause of death....
s' inquest
Inquest

Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"....
s into so-called friendly fire
Friendly fire

Friendly fire or non-hostile fire, a term originally adopted by the United States Armed Forces, refers to Shooting from one's own side or allied forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces....
 incidents relating to UK armed servicemen who had been killed by U.S. forces. The U.S. Government routinely hindered the coroner's investigation by refusing to cooperate. In January 2007 this culminated in the United States preventing the release of cockpit videos showing events leading to the death of Lance-Corporal Matty Hull
Matty Hull

Lance-Corporal of Horse Matthew Richard "Matty" Hull was a United Kingdom soldier from D Squadron, The Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry....
 of the Household Cavalry
Household Cavalry

The term Household Cavalry is used across the Commonwealth of Nations to describe the cavalry of the Household Divisions, a country?s most elite or historically senior military groupings or those military groupings that provide functions associated directly with the Head of state....
, and threatening newspapers who published them with prosecution. This particular incident caused a diplomatic row.

Extraordinary rendition

Assurances made by the U.S. to the UK that "extraordinary rendition" flights had never landed on British territory were later shown to be false when official U.S. records proved that such flights had landed at Diego Garcia
Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia is the largest atoll, in terms of land area, in Chagos Archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory. The island is located in the Indian Ocean, about 1,600 km south of the southern coast of India....
 repeatedly. The revelation was an embarrassment for British foreign secretary David Miliband
David Miliband

David Wright Miliband Member of Parliament, is a Politics of the United Kingdom who is the current Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Member of Parliament for the constituency of South Shields ....
, who was obliged to apologise to Parliament
Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom....
, describing the incidents as "a most serious matter".

Legal and moral doubts have also arisen over the U.S. government's extraordinary rendition process, which ignores extradition treaties and officially sanctions the kidnap and extrajudicial transfer of people (some of them UK citizens) from one country to another, sometimes to one of their covert CIA-run prisons, known as black sites, other times to Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The United Kingdom's Intelligence and Security Committee stated that America's refusal to listen to British concerns regarding this issue had "serious implications" for future intelligence relations.

Criminal law

In 2003 the United States pressed the United Kingdom to agree to an extradition treaty
Extradition Act 2003

The Extradition Act 2003 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into force on 1 January 2004 and all import and export extradition requests submitted or received from this date are covered by the Act....
, whereby the United Kingdom was obligated to make a strong prima facie
Prima facie

Prima facie is a little List of Latin phrases meaning "on its first appearance", or "by first instance". Literally the phrase translates as first face, "prima" first, "facie" face....
 case to U.S. courts before extradition would be granted. In contrast, extradition from the United Kingdom to the United States was a matter of administrative decision alone, without prima facie evidence. This had been implemented as an anti-terrorist measure in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Very soon, however, it was being used by the United States to extradite and prosecute a number of high-profile London
City of London

The City of London is a geographically small city status in the United Kingdom within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which, along with Westminster, the modern conurbation grew....
 businessmen (e.g. the Natwest Three and Ian Norris) on fraud charges. Contrasts have been drawn with the United States' harboring of Provisional IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army , is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that considers itself a direct continuation of the Irish Republican Army that fought in the Irish War of Independence....
 terrorists in the 1970s through to the 1990s. There was also indignation that U.S. service personnel who had killed UK colleagues in friendly fire
Friendly fire

Friendly fire or non-hostile fire, a term originally adopted by the United States Armed Forces, refers to Shooting from one's own side or allied forces, as opposed to fire coming from enemy forces....
 incidents (where a subsequent inquest verdict of unlawful killing
Unlawful killing

In English law unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales. The verdict means that a death was caused by another Juristic person, without lawful excuse and in breach of the criminal law, in other words homicide....
 was returned) were sheltered from extradition to the United Kingdom. The United States also refused to accede to another priority of the Blair government, the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court , Cour p?nale internationale in french language, is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crime against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression ....
.

On 30 September 2006 the U.S. Senate unanimously ratified a treaty allowing for equal extradition requirements between the two countries. Ratification had been slowed by complaints from some Irish-American groups that the treaty would create new legal jeopardy for U.S. citizens who opposed British policy in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland

conventional_long_name = Northern Ireland|native_name= Tuaisceart ?ireannNorlin Airlann|motto =|image_map = Europe location N-IRL2.png...
.

Trade policy

The United States has been accused of pursuing an aggressive trade policy, using or ignoring WTO
World Trade Organization

The World Trade Organization is an international organization designed to supervise and Free trade international trade. The WTO came into being on 1 January 1995, and is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which was created in 1947, and continued to operate for almost five decades as a de facto international org...
 rules; the aspects of this causing most difficulty to the United Kingdom have been high tariffs on British steel products and a successful challenge to the protection of small family banana farmers in the West Indies from large U.S. corporations such as the American Financial Corporation.

Diplomacy

In October 2007 The United Kingdom's first Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 government minister, Shahid Malik
Shahid Malik

Shahid Malik is United Kingdom House of Commons of the United Kingdom for Dewsbury and serves as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice ....
, rebuked U.S. authorities after having been detained and searched for explosives at a Washington airport on his way home from a meeting with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This was the second occasion on which this Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
 had been detained and searched, having received the same treatment at JFK airport during a visit to the United States in November 2006. Mr Malik remarked: "The abusive attitude I endured last November I forgot about and I forgave, but I really do believe that British ministers and parliamentarians
Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
 should be afforded the same respect and dignity at USA airports that we would bestow upon our colleagues in the Senate
United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism United States Congress, the lower house being the United States House of Representatives....
 and Congress
United States Congress

The United States Congress is the Bicameralism legislature of the Federal government of the United States of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives....
."

The ongoing refusal of the U.S. Embassy in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 to pay the London congestion charge
London congestion charge

The London congestion charge is a fee for some motorists travelling within those parts of London designated as the Congestion Charge Zone . The main objectives of this charge are to reduce congestion, and to raise funds for investment in London's transport system....
 has also been a minor source of controversy. American Embassy officials claimed they did not have to pay the congestion charge because it was a tax
Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon an individual or Legal person by a state or the functional equivalent of a state.Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entity....
, from which diplomats were exempt. London officials asserted that the congestion charge was no different from the toll
Road toll

File:Australia road toll graph.svgFile:New Zealand road toll graph.svgRoad toll is the term used in some countries for the number of deaths caused annually by road traffic accident....
 charges paid by drivers to travel into U.S. cities such as Manhattan
Manhattan

Manhattan is one of the five borough of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.With a United States Census of 1,620,867 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles , Manhattan, coextensive with New York County, is the most population density county in the United States, w...
 via bridges and roads. U.S. embassies paid similar congestion charges in Singapore
Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country microstate located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It lies 137 kilometres north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands....
 and Oslo
Oslo

is the Capital and largest List of cities in Norway in Norway.Metropolitan Oslo or the Greater Oslo Region makes up the third largest urban area in Scandinavia after Metropolitan Stockholm and Metropolitan Copenhagen....
.

Current status