Where does the term ‘special relationship’ come from?
Catherine Haddon Jill Rutter – Institute for Government
The UK and US have a long shared history and shared language, but the idea of a ‘special relationship’ between the UK and USA dates back to the end of the Second World War and the early Cold War period. Winston Churchill popularised the term in a famous 1946 speech when talking about the need to unite against the growing threat of the USSR, and it has since been adopted by successive governments when keen to emphasise Anglo-American relations. However, these are not the only countries that use the term. The phrase has been used by Israel and the United States to refer to their relationship, as well as the Canadian-American relationship in the past, while Donald Trump has also described France as the US’s “oldest ally”.
What does the special relationship entail?
The UK’s close relationship with the US is not just based on relationships between presidents and prime ministers, but on deep intelligence, defence and security working relationships. It resolves particularly around the commitment obtained from the US in the aftermath of the war to remain a guarantor of peace in Europe. This formed the basis of Western co-operation throughout the Cold War and beyond.
During the Second World War, after the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the signing of the Atlantic Charter Treaty, the two countries worked very closely together in the prosecution of the war but also in the development of nuclear weapon technology. The US had also learnt from UK intelligence in building its own intelligence functions. In the aftermath of WW2, the US leant on UK intelligence capability and reach of the then British Overseas Territories and Commonwealth in order to monitor Soviet activities, particularly as the USSR had also developed a nuclear weapon. This close defence and intelligence relationship has remained the bedrock of the UK-US relationship in the decades since, even at times when relationships between the nations’ leaders were more strained.
For some historians, the very idea of a special relationship, particularly in diplomatic terms, is overdone. The supremacy of the US during the post-war period means that it has had to manage many relationships and partnerships, and there have been many times when it has looked to other parts of the world when thinking about its strategic goals.
When the US goes to war does the UK always provide military support?
As NATO members, both countries sign up to the principle that an attack on one is an attack on all. There have also been many times in the post-war period when the two countries co-operated on military interventions from the 1948 Berlin airlift and 1950– 53 Korean War, through to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that followed 9/11. But other countries also supported the US in many of those conflicts and the UK has not always supported the US, or vice versa. In the 1960s, British prime minister Harold Wilson resisted pressure from American president Lyndon B Johnson to commit UK troops to the Vietnam War. In 1956, the US was strongly opposed to British and French military intervention in Egypt to retake the Suez canal and pressured them to accept a ceasefire. In the 1982 Falklands War, the US was initially opposed to British action but were persuaded by the Thatcher government to tacitly support the action and provided intelligence and other kinds of support.
Outside of specific conflicts, both militaries train and prepare together very closely and there are bilateral relationships at many levels of their respective armed forces. The UK has purchased US technology for its nuclear weapons capability and has adopted other kinds of US military technology that has made it quite dependent on US support at times.