The UK-U.S. “Special Relationship”
The relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is considered as:
a political, military and economic cooperation.
A term “special relationship” was first mentioned by Winston Churchill in Fulton, 1946.
He stated that “it is necessary that constancy of mind, persistency of purpose, and the grand simplicity of decision shall rule and guide the conduct of the English-speaking peoples in peace as they did in war” (Churchill, 1946).
But the term “special relationship” is a problematic one because such the description of a relationship lets to assume that the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is unique by its nature but this assumption objects the traditional international relations assumption which states that a relationship between states can be only egoistic because the alliances are formed to achieve their own goals.
But Britain and the United States not only collaborate because of their common interests but these two countries also share common history, culture and language.
A political cooperation between Britain and the United States partly is determined by the similarity of their national interests. Moreover, the UK-U.S. “special relationship” is described as an exceptional personal cooperation between the leaders of both countries which has an influence on political cooperation between the two countries. The most significant examples of such cooperation are:
In 1997 New Labour presented a programme with a “new approach” to foreign policy that suggested developing a more close relationship with European partners. What is more, it emphasized the necessity for Britain to advance a more positive negotiation position on European issues.
But in reality Tony Blair‟s Government still gave a priority to the UK-U.S. “special relationship” in British foreign policy. After 9/11 terror attacks in the United States, the alliance between Britain and America became as strong as ever and that could be seen in the war on terror and later in the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (Lunn et al., 2008). Since World War II the United Kingdom demonstrated that it is a loyal and consistent America‟s ally. Moreover, Britain recognized the leadership of America in NATO, advocated the U.S. strategic policies and was a strong “Atlanticist” voice in the European Union (Wither, 2003).
An alliance with the United States still remains the core of Britain‟s foreign and security policy. The UK Strategic Defence Review (1998) emphasizes Britain‟s close cooperation with the United States and the United Kingdom was named as the main partner of America. The benefits from this partnership are evident for both countries.
* For instance, a partnership with a loyal partner – Britain – is important for Americans because Britain is a nuclear state which is strong in military area and British have a veto right in the UN Security Council.
* What is more, Britain‟s membership in EU gives a possibility for America to strengthen its influence within Europe.
* Meanwhile for Britain the partnership with the United States allowed to maintain its influence in international politics and also British had a possibility to get the ballistic missiles “Trident” and “Polaris” from Americans which were necessary for their nuclear weapon and Britain can expect to get a support from the United States during foreign policy crises (e.g. it was evident during the Falklands conflict).
But the critics of British foreign policy argue that when Anglo-American interests do clash, the asymmetry of power in the relationship means that Britain must accept the American position for the sake of the “special relationship” (Murphy, 2002).
A Military cooperation is one of the important segments in the “special relationship”. The same approach to the threats to the national security strengthens the military cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Both countries perceive the same threat to their national security:
terrorism
mass destruction weapons
regional conflicts and failed (or failing countries).
A nuclear cooperation is also the important part of the “special relationship”. This means that Britain has a possibility to use America‟s advanced technologies in nuclear field. What is more, the nuclear and intelligence information is exchanged between both countries. Although the United States undoubtedly dominate in this nuclear partnership, but Britain gets a more obvious direct benefit from this partnership – U.S. investments into nuclear weapons and submarine technologies help Britain to sustain its nuclear weapon. Such close nuclear cooperation means that Britain is the closest partner of the United States in the nuclear field and this cooperation helps to achieve the main goal – secure their national security.
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