Special Relationship

The Special Relationship is a term that is often used to describe the political, social, diplomatic, cultural, economic, legal, environmental, religious, military and historic relations between the United Kingdom and the United States or its political leaders. The term first came into popular usage after it was used in a 1946 speech by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Both nations have been close allies during many conflicts in the 20th and the 21st centuries, including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Gulf War and the war on terror.

Although both governments also have close relationships with many other nations, the level of cooperation between the UK and the US in trade and commerce, military planning, execution of military operations, nuclear weapons technology, and intelligence sharing has been described as "unparallelled" among major world powers.^[1] The close relationships between British and American heads of government such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan as well as between Tony Blair and both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have been noted.^[2] At the diplomatic level, characteristics include recurring public representations of the relationship as "special", frequent and high-profile political visits and extensive information exchange at the diplomatic working level.^[3]

Some critics deny the existence of a "special relationship" and call it a myth.^[4][5] During the 1956 Suez Crisis, US President Dwight Eisenhower threatened to bankrupt the pound sterling due to Britain's invasion of Egypt. Thatcher privately opposed the 1983 US invasion of Grenada, and Reagan unsuccessfully initially pressured against the 1982 Falklands War.^[2][6] Former US President Barack Obama considered German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be his "closest international partner" and accused British Prime Minister David Cameron of being "distracted by a range of other things" during the 2011 military intervention in Libya.^[2][7]

There is also recognition that the imagery and language associated with the "special relationship" has been proliferated by the United States to describe other international relationships.^[8] For example, the US Department of State argues that "France is America's oldest friend and ally",^[9] similarly, the relationship between the United States and Canada has also been described as "special".^[10] Additionally, the US-Israel relationship has commonly been considered "special", by academics and politicians, since 1967. ^[11][12][13]

Following the 2016 election of Donald Trump as US president, the British government under Prime Ministers Theresa May and Boris Johnson^[14] sought to establish "a new special relationship" with the Trump administration. Trump claimed that his relationship with Theresa May was "the highest level of special",^[15] and Trump praised Johnson as prime minister and celebrated comparisons that had been made between Johnson and himself, endorsing him during the 2019 election and referring to him as "Britain Trump".