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United Kingdom - United States relations

United Kingdom	United States

British-American relations widely encompass and span four centuries, beginning in 1607 with England's first permanent colony in North America called Jamestown, to the present day, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.

The United Kingdom as well as the United States, a remnant of the British Empire itself during the colonial period, are bound by shared history, a common language and legal system, culture, and kindred, ancestral blood lines in British Americans which can be traced back hundreds of years.

Through times of war and rebellion, peace and estrangement, as well as later becoming friends and allies, the United Kingdom and the United States previously cemented these deeply rooted links during World War II into what was once known as the "special relationship."

Today, the relationship with the United States represents the "most important bilateral partnership" in current British foreign policy while United States foreign policy affirms its relationship with the United Kingdom as one of its many bilateral relationships within the wider context of the United Nations and NATO, as evidenced in aligned political affairs, mutual cooperation in the areas of trade, commerce, finance, technology, academics, as well as the arts and sciences; the sharing of government and military intelligence, and joint combat operations and peacekeeping missions carried out between the United States Armed Forces and the British Armed Forces.

Country comparison

	United Kingdom	United States
Population	61,113,205	307,442,000
Area	244,820 km (94,526 sq mi)	9,826,630 km (3,794,066 sq mi )
Population Density	246/km (637/sq mi)	31/km (80/sq mi)
Capital	London (de facto)	Washington, D.C.
Largest City	London – 7,556,900 (13,945,000 Metro)	New York City – 8,363,710 (19,006,798 Metro)
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy	Federal presidential constitutional republic
Official languages	English (de facto)	English (de facto)
Main religions	71.8% Christianity, 15.1% non-Religious, 7.8% Unstated, 2.8% Islam, 1% Hinduism, 0.6% Sikhism, 0.5% Judaism, 0.3% Buddhism	78.4% Christianity, 16.1% Non-Religious, 1.7% Judaism, 1.2% Other, 0.7% Buddhism, 0.6% Islam, 0.4% Hinduism
Ethnic groups	92.1% White, 4% South Asian, 2% Black, 1.2% Multi-racial, 0.4% Chinese, 0.4% Other	74% White American, 14.8% Hispanic and Latino American (of any race), 13.4% African American, 6.5% Some other race, 4.4% Asian American, 2.0% Two or more races, 0.68% Native American or Native Alaskan, 0.14% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
GDP (nominal)	US$2.674 trillion ($43,875 per capita)	US$14.264 trillion ($46,859 per capita)
British Americans	224,000 American-born people live in the UK	678,000 British-born people live in the USA
Military expenditures	$64 billion (FY 2009-10)	$651.2 billion (FY 2009)

History

Origins

On June 7, 1579, the English explorer Sir Francis Drake aboard his galleon called the Golden Hind, spotted a harbor on a land-mass in the New World that he named Nova Albion—Latin for "New Britain." Claiming it for England, the location of Francis Drake's port remains a mystery and there was no follow-up. But subsequently, archaic maps such as those drawn by Flemish cartographer Jodocus Hondius, named all lands above present-day Baja California as "Nova Albion." The most prevailing theory held by most historians is that Francis Drake's landing occurred in present-day northern California near Point Reyes, just north of the Golden Gate. Another location often claimed to be Nova Albion is present-day Whale Cove, Oregon.

The first attempt of English colonization was the Lost Colony, also known as the Roanoke Colony, in 1585. Led by Sir Walter Raleigh who represented Queen Elizabeth I, the colony would ultimately fail by 1587, due to an unsustainable supply of food and the alleged disappearance and abandonment by the colonists. The first successful English settlement in mainland North America was the Jamestown Settlement in the Colony of Virginia, founded in 1607 for King James I of England. The first Africans brought to the American Colonies were sent to Virginia around 1619. These individuals appear to have been treated as indentured servants.

The Pilgrims were a small Protestant sect based in England and the Dutch Republic. One group in particular sailed on the Mayflower. After drawing up the Mayflower Compact by which they gave themselves broad powers of self-governance, they established the Plymouth Colony in 1620. William Bradford became the first governor. The Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 with 400 settlers who sought to reform the Church of England by creating a new and more pure church in the New World. The Quakers, now known as the Religious Society of Friends, is based on the idea that individuals can have a relationship with the divine. Originating in England, the Quakers were banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony due to hostility held by the Puritans. The Quakers then uprooted and settled in the Province of New Jersey. Eventually, William Penn was awarded a royal charter in 1681 by King Charles II of England for the founding of the Province of Pennsylvania where the Quakers would finally settle.

During the 17th century, an estimated 350,000 English and Welsh migrants arrived in the American Colonies, which in the century after the Acts of Union 1707, was surpassed in rate and number by Scottish and Irish migrants.

All of the American Colonies were involved in the slave trade. People enslaved in the Middle Colonies and New England Colonies typically worked as house servants, artisans, laborers and craftsmen. Early on, slaves in the Southern Colonies worked primarily in agriculture, on farms and plantations growing indigo, rice, cotton, and tobacco. Likewise, mercantilism provided a trade surplus for the American Colonies which in return, benefited the mother country.

The French and Indian War, fought between 1754 and 1763, was the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The conflict, the fourth such colonial war between France and the Kingdom of Great Britain in North America, resulted in the British acquisition of New France with the aid of the Iroquois Confederation. As part of the terms dictated in the Treaty of Paris signed in 1763, the French ceded control of French Louisiana east of the Mississippi River to the British, which became known as the Indian Reserve. Thereafter, Great Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in North America was confirmed.

American Revolution

The Thirteen Colonies gradually began to experience more limited self-government. Additionally, British mercantilist policies became more stringent, benefiting the mother country which resulted in trade restrictions, thereby limiting the growth of the colonial economy and artificially constraining colonial merchants' earning potential. Prefaced by debt accrued during the French and Indian War of which the American Colonies were expected to help repay, tensions escalated from 1765 to 1775 over issues of taxation without representation and control by King George III. Stemming from the Boston Massacre when British Redcoats opened fire on civilians in 1770, rebellion consumed the outraged colonists. The British Parliament earlier imposed a series of taxes such as the Stamp Act of 1765 and later on, the Tea Act of 1773, of which an angry mob of colonists protested about in the Boston Tea Party. The British Parliament responded to the defiance of the colonists by passing the Intolerable Acts in 1774. This course of events ultimately triggered the first shots fired in the Battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775 and effectively, the beginning of the American War of Independence itself. The Declaration of Independence, ratified by the Continental Congress in 1776, and then signed and sent to King George III, was a radical and decisive break for its time.

With limitations placed on successful war tactics, the long-term strategy of military commanders in the British Army such as Thomas Gage, Sir William Howe, Henry Clinton, John Burgoyne, and most notably Lord Charles Cornwallis, failed to defeat the Continental Army and French. The tipping point came in 1781 when Lord Cornwallis' subordinate, Charles O'Hara surrendered his sword to George Washington's subordinate, Benjamin Lincoln at the Siege of Yorktown.

In 1783, formal recognition of the United States of America as an independent and sovereign nation by the Kingdom of Great Britain was finalized in the mutual terms agreed upon in the Treaty of Paris. In 1785, John Adams was appointed the first American plenipotentiary minister, now known as an ambassador, to the Court of St. James's. In 1791, Great Britain sent its first diplomatic envoy, George Hammond, to the United States.

When Great Britain and France went to war in 1793, relations between the United States and Great Britain as well verged on war. Tensions were subdued when the Jay Treaty was signed in 1794, which established a decade of peace and prosperous trade relations. The international slave trade was gradually suppressed after Great Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807, and the United States passed a similar law in 1808.

War of 1812

The United States imposed several trade embargoes, namely the Embargo Act of 1807, as retaliation for Great Britain's suppression of Franco-United States trade during the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Navy boarded American ships and impressed sailors. Thus, the War of 1812 was instigated by causes made by the British and it was further initiated by the United States under James Madison as a means to protect American trading rights and freedom of the seas for neutral countries.

Another motivation was American anger over British military support for Native Americans defending their tribal lands from encroaching American pioneers. Additionally, the question over the United States' ambition for territorial expansion northward and westward, was alluded in its belief in Manifest Destiny.

The initial American winter action, a planned invasion of British North America, including the successful destruction of the colonial capital of York, was eventually repelled when in 1814, the British raided Washington D.C. and burned the White House. After the United States gained complete naval control and supremacy of the Great Lakes by defeating the Royal Navy in numerous engagements, a total British attack from the north was repelled. Equally, the majority of land attacks made by the United States northward were repulsed by the British.

Negotiations led to the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the war by restoring the status quo ante bellum. No territorial gains were made by either side. Great Britain promised to return captured slaves, but instead a few years later paid the United States £350,000 for them. The British proposal to create an Indian buffer zone in Ohio and Michigan collapsed after the Indian coalition fell apart. The United States largely ignored the guarantees it made in article IX regarding American treatment of Native Americans.

Consequently, before word could be sent to both American and British military commanders that the war was over, Great Britain suffered a defeat and handed the United States, under the command of General Andrew Jackson, a victory at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Shortly afterwards, the United States suffered a defeat at Fort Bowyer and handed the British, under the command of John Lambert, a victory. The War of 1812 marked the final end of constant warfare and ushered in a new era of peace between the United States and Great Britain, who would become allies nearly a century later.

Disputes 1815–1860

The Monroe Doctrine, a unilateral response in 1823 to a British suggestion of a joint declaration, expressed American hostility of further European encroachment in the Western hemisphere. Nevertheless, the United States benefited from British recognition and was thus complied by the Royal Navy.

After the Panic of 1837, numerous states in the United States defaulted on bonds owned by British investors. During the Caroline Affair in 1837, British North American rebels fled to New York and used a small American ship called the Caroline to smuggle supplies into British North America after a failed rebellion there. In late 1837, militia from British North America burned the ship, leading to diplomatic protests, an unquenched sense of Anglophobia, and other incidents.

Additional conflicts on the Maine-New Brunswick border involved rival teams of lumberjacks in the Aroostook War. The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842, resolved these issues and finalized the border. In 1859, the Pig War determined the question of where the border should be in relationship to the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands.

American Civil War

In the American Civil War, the Confederate States of America assumed that the British would prove sympathetic, despite their dim view on slavery. Though the Confederacy's first attempt to provoke British intervention by using an embargo of cotton exports was a failure, the Trent Affair, when the USS San Jacinto stopped the British civilian vessel RMS Trent and took off two Confederate diplomats named James Mason and John Slidell, almost provoked a third war between the United States and the United Kingdom. While diplomatic measures between London and Washington were ongoing, the British under Lord Palmerston began mobilizing a small militia in British North America who were unprepared in the event of a full-scale invasion of up to an estimated 200,000 soldiers in the Union Army.

The United Kingdom knew that any recognition of a sovereign and independent nation called the Confederate States would be an act of war against the United States. In addition, the United Kingdom had to take into consideration that the British economy was heavily reliant on growing trade with the United States, most notably cheap grain imports high in demand which in the event of war, would be cut off by the Americans. Third, the British knew that the United States had an indispensable European ally, the Russian Empire to help fight in a possible war against the United Kingdom. And lastly, British forces in British North America were vastly outnumbered by the Union Army which if British war tactics proved to be unsuccessful, the risk of annexation of British North America by the United States might be inevitable.

The British were content with a formal apology on behalf of the United States so that war could be averted over lingering issues revolving around the Trent Affair. Thus, Abraham Lincoln eventually relented as he did not want to fight a war on two fronts, having United States Secretary of State William H. Seward smooth matters over.

Despite outrage and intense American protests, the United Kingdom allowed the British-built CSS Alabama to leave port as a commerce raider under the naval flag of the Confederacy. After the American Civil War ended in 1865, the United Kingdom abided by the terms of the Treaty of Washington outlined by an arbitration of an international tribunal in 1871, thus paying $15.5 million to the United States for the destruction caused by the CSS Alabama, while admitting no guilt.

Venezuelan and border disputes

In 1895, Grover Cleveland intervened in a dispute over the border between British Guiana and Venezuela by demanding arbitration, which was agreed to and resolved in the United Kingdom's favor. The Alaska boundary dispute was resolved by arbitration in 1903, as a British judge sided with the United States against its northern neighbors, the Canadians, who were outraged to be sacrificed for the benefit of British-American harmony.

The Great Rapprochement

The Great Rapprochement, a term usually attributed to Bradford Perkins, is used to describe the convergence of social and political objectives between the United States and the United Kingdom in the two decades before World War I. Ever since the American War of Independence, the United States and the United Kingdom's relationship had been deeply troubled.

However, the differences that had separated an agrarian and anti-imperialist United States and the industrialized United Kingdom had rapidly diminished in the decades preceding World War I. With the gradual decline of Anglophobia and the rise of the United States as a great power with its own imperial possessions in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the British were highly desirous of a long-term ally that would prevent an upset in their balance of power, which the German Empire and Russian Empire appeared to seriously threaten.

World War I

After victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898, the United States appeared to have its own rising empire due to its rapid acquisition of numerous overseas colonial possessions— Cuba, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and many others; and had begun to build the Great White Fleet as a newfound symbol of its enormous power projection and as a blue water navy. Seizing upon this notion, both the United Kingdom and the German Empire engaged in pro-American propaganda campaigns designed to win over a potential World War I alliance with the United States. The British in fact, were able to guarantee a price for American cotton producers, who were the most affected by the loss of trade with Germany and Central Europe.

Woodrow Wilson opted to allow a munitions trade to continue, despite disputes over freedom of the seas because of the British blockade of Germany and complaints of a 'navalism' like German 'militarism'. Thus, this policy meant that the United States would only supply the Triple Entente onwards.

At the start of the war, the unrestricted activities of German agents against British interests, as well as the United States' refusal to check the Indian sedetionist movement, was a major concern for the British Government that triggered an intense neutrality dispute through 1916. The British Far-Eastern Fleet's activities, especially the SS China and SS Henry S incidents drew strong responses from the United States, prompting the United States Atlantic Fleet to dispatch naval destroyers and battleships to the Pacific Ocean in order to protect the sovereignty of American vessels. However, this dispute did not calm down before November 1916.

As evidence of German complicity in public incidents, including the Black Tom explosion, and conspiracies in and against the United States such as the Zimmerman Telegram, it became more obvious that American public opinion was becoming more influenced to the prospect of joining World War I. When Germany responded in 1916 with a submarine blockade of the United Kingdom and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-boat, it led to a protest by the United States and a strong sense of anti-German feelings among the American people.

Germany returned to unrestricted submarine warfare in January 1917 in the belief that the United Kingdom would be decisively weakened before the United States could mobilize. Nevertheless, the United States declared war on Germany, joined the Allies, and sent 1.982 million American servicemen under the command of General John J. Pershing to France out of 4.355 million mobilized. Though initially slow at mobilization of the American Expeditionary Force to the Western front, doughboys were instrumental in providing heightened morale for the Allies as well as hastening a victorious end to the war in Europe.

Although Woodrow Wilson had wanted to wage war for the sake of humanity, the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles made plain that his diplomatic position had weakened with victory. The borders of Europe were redrawn on the basis of national self-determination, with the exception of Germany. Financial reparations were imposed on Germany, despite British reservations and American protests, largely because of France's desire for punitive peace.

Inter-war years

World War I was theoretically the end of the Royal Navy's superiority, an eclipse acknowledged in the Washington Naval Treaty, when the United States and the United Kingdom agreed to the allocation of equal tonnage quotas on February 6, 1922. Although the United States Navy had the right to build a navy equal in size and power of the British Royal Navy, it voluntarily opted to remain the junior of the two navies, with a smaller, yet a growing fleet of vessels. Nevertheless, the United States' policies on immigration and trade ignited a Pacific Fleet rivalry with the Empire of Japan rather than an Atlantic Fleet rivalry with the British Empire.

During the Great Depression, the United States was preoccupied with its own internal affairs and economic recovery, espousing an isolationist policy which was only sporadically active in foreign affairs throughout the 1920's and 1930's. After the United States imposed a high tariff on foreign imports in 1930, which was called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Empire unsuccessfully built up imperial trade preferences, thereby attempting to promote trade internally and diverting trade away from the United States. Nevertheless, the Great Depression did eventually spread to the United Kingdom, so much that the UK Treasury found it nearly impossible to repay loans and war bonds granted by banks in the United States during World War I. In the end, most of the World War I debt which had been accrued by the United Kingdom as well as many other European countries were largely written off and excused by American bankers.

Towards the end of 1936, the Abdication Crisis, while absorbing popular interest in both the United Kingdom and the United States, did not become a foreign relations issue. At the insistence of Stanley Baldwin, the ultimatum was given to King Edward VIII of retaining his throne as head of the Church of England, or renouncing his birth right as king and marrying an American divorcee named Wallis Simpson, the latter of which he finally did choose.

Tensions over the Irish question diminished with the independence of the Irish Free State, which was granted much earlier in 1922, and with the ambassadorship of Joseph P. Kennedy to the Court of St. James's beginning in 1938.

World War II

Though much of the American people were sympathetic to the United Kingdom and France during their dangerous confrontation with Nazi Germany, there was widespread opposition to possible American intervention in European affairs. This was highlighted in a series of Neutrality Acts which were ratified by the United States Congress in 1935, 1936, and 1937 respectively. However, Franklin Roosevelt's policy of cash-and-carry still allowed the United Kingdom and France to order munitions from the United States.

Winston Churchill, whose mother was an American, became prime minister after the Allies' failure to prevent the German invasion of Norway. After the fall of France, Franklin Roosevelt gave the United Kingdom and later the Soviet Union all aid short of war. The Destroyers for Bases Agreement which was signed in September 1940, gave the United States a ninety-nine-year rent-free lease of numerous land and air bases throughout the British Empire in exchange for the United Kingdom receiving possession of fifty destroyers from the United States Navy. Beginning in March 1941, lend-lease in the form of Sherman tanks, fighter airplanes, munitions, bullets, food, and medical supplies were sent to the United Kingdom, $31.4 billion out of a total of $50.1 billion ($700 billion in 2007) sent to the Allies.

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war by the United States Congress on Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in December 1941, two United States Navy destroyers had already been torpedoed on convoy duties in the North Atlantic Ocean. The United States nevertheless became extensively involved in the European theatre due to the real and perceived threat of the Axis Powers eventually reaching American shores, contingent on the Allies in Fortress Europe and to another extent, the Allies in the Pacific War, being defeated. 60,000 British and 73,000 Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and both nations' armed forces fought alongside each other at the Battle of Monte Cassino, Operation Market Garden, the invasion of Sicily, the Battle of the Bulge, and many other battles in the Pacific War. It was during this period of extremely close cooperation that the "special relationship" was created and conceptualized.

Millions of American servicemen were based in the United Kingdom during World War II, which led to a certain amount of friction with their British counterparts. This animosity was explored in art and film, most particularly A Matter of Life and Death and A Canterbury Tale.

As part of their military collaboration throughout the war, scientists and physicists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other countries, all under the direction of an American named Robert Oppenheimer, worked on the Manhattan Project in total secrecy, which eventually achieved the objective of building an atomic bomb before Nazi Germany could obtain and use such a weapon.

Cold War

In the years following World War II, the United Kingdom found itself in virtual financial ruin whereas the United States was in the midst of an economic boom. Due to many hardships during and after the toll of war, the British Empire went into relative decline as several of its overseas colonies began the process of de-colonization, most notably, the independence of India which occurred in 1947.

Furthermore, the United Kingdom found itself at the mercy of American economic policy when the United States abruptly terminated lend-lease at the end of World War II. This fact was highlighted by the Anglo-American loan made to the United Kingdom by the United States in 1946. At a 2% interest rate, the terms of this loan were $586 million (£145 million in 1945) and a $375 million line of credit which was to be paid off in 50 annual installments, the first payment being due in 1950. The United Kingdom deferred twice on repayment with the last payment of $83 million (£45.5 million) being sent to the United States Federal Reserve on December 31, 2006.

The United States and the United Kingdom became founding members of the United Nations in 1945, as well as becoming two of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. In the post-war era, the United States and the United Kingdom were becoming increasingly suspicious of the motives of their former ally, the Soviet Union. Rising tensions between the capitalist and communist powers led to the Cold War. Thus, close cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom resulted in the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with their European allies, a mutual defense alliance whereby if one country is attacked, then it is seen as an attack on all countries.

On February 11, 1946, negotiators from the United Kingdom and the United States signed the Bermuda I Agreement, a bilateral air transport agreement which regulated commercial air transport between British and American airports.

The United States began practicing an anti-colonial and anti-communist stance in its foreign policy throughout the Cold War. Military forces from the United States and the United Kingdom were heavily involved in the Korean War, fighting under a United Nations mandate. A withdrawal of military forces occurred when a stalemate was implemented in 1953. When the Suez Crisis erupted in October 1956, the United States feared a wider war after the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact nations threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Thus, the United States demanded that the United Kingdom and France end their invasion of Egypt or otherwise face imminent economic sanctions which would in all probable causes, create an economic collapse in the United Kingdom and a severe devaluation of the sterling pound. This threat made by Dwight Eisenhower led to an immediate British and French withdrawal of their military occupation as well as the immediate resignation of Anthony Eden in 1957.

Through the US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement signed in 1958, the United States assisted the United Kingdom in their own development of a nuclear arsenal. In April 1963, John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan signed the Polaris Sales Agreement to the effect of the United States agreeing to supply the UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missile to the United Kingdom and for use in the Royal Navy's submarine fleet starting in 1968.

The United States gradually became involved in the Vietnam War in the early 1960's, but received no support this time from the United Kingdom. Anti-Americanism due to the Vietnam War and a lack of American support for France and the United Kingdom over the Suez Crisis weighed heavily on the minds of many in Europe. This sentiment extended in the United Kingdom by Harold Wilson's refusal to send British troops to Indochina.

On July 23, 1977, officials from the United Kingdom and the United States renegotiated the previous Bermuda I Agreement, thus signing the Bermuda II Agreement to the effect of only four combined airlines, two from the United Kingdom and two from the United States, being allowed to operate flights from London Heathrow Airport and specified "gateway cities" in the United States. The Bermuda II Agreement was in effect for nearly 30 years until it was eventually replaced by the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, which was signed on April 30, 2007 and entering into effect on March 30, 2008.

Throughout the 1980's, Margaret Thatcher was strongly supportive of Ronald Reagan's unwavering stance towards the Soviet Union. Often described as 'political soulmates' and a high point in the "special relationship," both President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher met on numerous occasions throughout their political careers, speaking in concert when confronting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.

In 1982, the British Government made a request to the United States, which the Americans agreed upon in principle, to sell the Trident II D5 ballistic missile, associated equipment, and related system support for use on four Vanguard class nuclear submarines in the Royal Navy. The Trident II D5 ballistic missile replaced the United Kingdom's previous use of the UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missile, beginning in the mid-1990's.

In the Falklands War, the United States initially tried to mediate between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, but ultimately ended up supporting the United Kingdom's counter-invasion. The United States Defense Department under Caspar Weinberger, supplied the British military with equipment as well as logistical support.

In October 1983, the United States and a coalition of Caribbean nations undertook Operation Urgent Fury, codename for the invasion of the Commonwealth island nation of Grenada. A bloody Marxist-coup had overrun Grenada and neighboring countries in the region asked the United States to intervene militarily, which it did successfully despite having made assurances to a deeply resentful British Government.

On April 15, 1986, the United States Air Force with elements of naval and marine forces launched Operation El Dorado Canyon from RAF Fairford, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Lakenheath, and RAF Mildenhall. Despite firm opposition from within the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher nevertheless gave Ronald Reagan permission to use Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom during the bombings of Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya, a counter-attack by the United States in response to Muammar Gaddafi's exportation of state-sponsored terrorism directed towards civilians and American servicemen stationed in West Berlin.

On December 21, 1988, Pan American Worldways' Flight 103 from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 169 Americans and 40 Britons onboard. The motive that is generally attributed to the country of Libya can be traced back to a series of military confrontations with the United States Navy that took place in the 1980s in the Gulf of Sidra, the whole of which Libya claimed as its territorial waters. Despite a guilty verdict announced on January 31, 2001 by the Scottish High Court of Justiciary which ruled against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the alleged bomber on charges of murder and the conspiracy to commit murder, Libya had never formally admitted carrying out the 1988 bombing over Scotland until 2003.

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the United States and the United Kingdom throughout the 1980s provided arms to the Mujahadeen rebels in Afghanistan until the last troops from the Soviet Union left Afghanistan on February 15, 1989.

Post Cold War

When the United States became the world's lone superpower after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, new threats emerged which confronted the United States and its NATO allies. With military build-up beginning in August 1990 and the use of force beginning in January 1991, the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, provided the two largest forces respectively for the coalition army which liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's regime during the Persian Gulf War.

In 1997, the British Labour Party was elected to office for the first time in eighteen years. The new prime minister, Tony Blair, and Bill Clinton both used the expression 'Third Way' to describe their center-left ideologies. In August 1997, the American people expressed solidarity with the British people, sharing in their grief and sense of shock on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who perished in a car crash in Paris, France. Hillary Rodham Clinton attended the funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997.

Throughout 1998 and 1999, the United States and the United Kingdom sent troops to impose peace during the Kosovo War.

War on Terrorism and Iraq War

2,669 Americans and 67 Britons at the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania were victims of a terrorist plot orchestrated by the Islamic group known as al-Qaeda on September 11, 2001. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy from the United Kingdom for the American people, and Tony Blair was one of George W. Bush's strongest international supporters for bringing al-Qaeda and the Taliban to justice. With permission from Queen Elizabeth II, the American National Anthem was played in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace during Guard Mounting on September 12, 2001 in the presence of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and then United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, William Farish.

The United States declared a War on Terror following the attacks. British forces participated in the United States-led war in Afghanistan and unlike France, Canada, Germany, China, and Russia, the United Kingdom, as well as the Commonwealth nation of Australia, supported the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The United States, followed closely by the United Kingdom, contributed the most troops to the coalition during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the ensuing Iraq War which followed.

The July 7, 2005 London bombings emphasized the difference in the nature of the terrorist threat to both nations. The United States concentrated primarily on global enemies, like the al-Qaeda network and other Islamic extremists from the Middle East. The London bombings were carried out by homegrown extremist Muslims, and it emphasized the United Kingdom's threat from the radicalization of its own people.

By 2007, British support among the public for the Iraq war had plummeted. Despite Tony Blair's historically low approval ratings with the British people, mainly due to allegations of faulty government intelligence of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction, his unapologetic and unwavering stance for the United Kingdom's alliance with the United States can be summed up in his own words. He said, "We should remain the closest ally of the US... not because they are powerful, but because we share their values."

On March 31, 2009, Major General Andy Salmon of the British Army formally handed over command of combat operations in Basra, Iraq to Major General Michael Oates of the 10th Mountain Division of the United States Army. This transition marked the beginning of the end of British occupation in southern Iraq. All British servicemen were withdrawn with the exception of 400 who remained in Iraq until July 31, 2009.

On June 11, 2009, the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda accepted four Chinese Uighurs from the United States' detainment facility known as Guantanamo Bay detention camp located on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. At the request of the United States government, Bermudan officials agreed to host Abdul Nasser, Huzaifa Parhat, Abdul Semet, and Jalal Jalaladin as guest workers in Bermuda who seven years ago, were all captured by Pakistani bounty hunters during the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. This decision agreed upon by American and Bermudan officials drew considerable consternation and contempt by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as it was viewed by British officials in London that they should have been consulted on whether or not the decision to take in four Chinese Uighurs was a security and foreign issue of which the Bermudan government does not have delegated responsibility over.

Release of Al Megrahi and Boycott of Scotland

On August 20, 2009, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill publicly announced during a media conference that Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the only person convicted of the terrorist plot which killed 169 Americans and 40 Britons on Pan American Worldways' Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988, was to be released from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds based on medical advice verifying that Abdelbaset Al Megrahi has terminal cancer and an estimated three months left to live. After media reports showed Abdelbaset Al Megrahi at Tripoli International Airport receiving a hero's welcome on Libyan soil, fury and mounting anger grew in the United States over the decision itself to release Abdelbaset Al Megrahi under the framework of Scottish law. From the American viewpoint, the decision to release Abdelbaset Al Megrahi on compassionate grounds was seen as uncompassionate and insensitive to the memory of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the decision made her "deeply disappointed." President Barack Obama said that the decision was "highly objectionable" while FBI Director Robert Mueller had even more strong words in an open letter written to Kenny MacAskill in which he said the decision to release Abdelbaset Al Megrahi "makes a mockery of the rule of law."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and several officials of the British Government declined to say whether or not they supported the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi as they repeatedly stressed that the decision was a devolved matter and under the sole authority of the Scottish Government. Nevertheless, serious questions arose as to whether or not a lucrative trade agreement or oil deal was made between Libya and the United Kingdom, contingent upon the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, as claimed by Saif Gaddafi, the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. After the release, Colonel Gaddafi stated, "And I say to my friend Brown, the prime minister of Britain, his government, the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, and Prince Andrew, who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to take this historic and courageous decision, despite the obstacles." In response to all accusations made in the media, Lord Peter Mandelson, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills made a rebuttal by saying, "It's not only completely wrong to make such a suggestion, it's also quite offensive."

Surrounding the controversy of releasing Abdelbaset Al Megrahi and the allegations of a trade deal between Libya and the United Kingdom, a backlash of angry protesters in the United States called for a boycott of Scotland. A web site in the form of an online petition was launched soon thereafter with a list of e-mail addresses of Scottish and British politicians, contact details of Scottish newspapers, and a list of Scottish products and companies for the American people to economically boycott. The online web petition claimed that a boycott of Scotland was the "only way to send a clear and direct message" of American contempt. Grassroots campaigns also took hold on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, while there were calls to have Scotch whisky renamed as 'Freedom Liquor.'

In the aftermath of the release of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, several commentators suggested that British-American relations have been damaged due to the actions of the Scottish Government. Others in the media as well as in government circles have even questioned whether or not the "special relationship" developed between the United Kingdom and the United States during World War II still exists. David Rivkin, a former official of the United States Department of Justice said, "This will damage US relations with Britain for years to come." However, Louis Susman, the United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James's said that although the decision made by Scotland to release Abdelbaset Al Megrahi on the grounds of compassion was seen by the United States as extremely regrettable, relations with the United Kingdom would remain fully in tact and strong. Despite these assurances made by the United States, sceptics such as Susan Stewart, a former diplomat of Scottish Affairs contended that Scotland's standing and negative image in the United States resulted in a setback of Scottish-American relations where only a 'diplomatic charm offensive' on the behalf of Scotland could repair the damage already done.

Present status

Present British policy is that the relationship with the United States represents the United Kingdom's "most important bilateral relationship" in the world. United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton paid tribute to the relationship in February 2009 by saying, "it stands the test of time."

On March 3, 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown made his first visit to the Obama White House. During his visit, he presented the president a gift in the form of a pen holder carved from the HMS Gannet, which served anti-slavery missions off the coast of Africa. Barack Obama’s gift to the prime minister was a box of 25 DVDs with movies including Star Wars and E.T.--all of which were Region 1 disks, unplayable on most machines sold outside the United States. The wife of the prime minister, Sarah Brown, gave the Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia, two dresses from British clothing retailer, Topshop, and a few unpublished books that have not reached the United States. Michelle Obama gave the prime minister's sons two Marine One helicopter toys. During this visit to the United States, Prime Minister Brown made an address to a joint session of the United States Congress, a privilege rarely accorded to foreign heads of government.

On a personal level, the fondness between the United States' First Family and the British Royal Family was illustrated by a breach of protocol between Queen Elizabeth II and Michelle Obama, who in gestures of good will and friendship, publicly put their arms around each other during a party held at Buckingham Palace on April 1, 2009, which was in conjunction with the London G20 summit. On June 13, 2009, Michelle Obama and her two children, Sasha Obama and Malia Obama, had a private audience with Queen Elizabeth II. During this visit, the Obama children were granted a rare and unprecedented three-hour tour of the State rooms at Buckingham Palace. The Queen and the First Lady are known to have discussed their mutual love of gardening, the countryside, and fashion.

In March 2009, a Gallup poll was conducted by means of a telephone survey of 1,023 adults in the United States. Of those surveyed, 36% identified the United Kingdom as their country's "most valuable ally", followed by Canada, Japan, Israel, and Germany rounding out the top five. The poll also indicated that 89% of Americans view the United Kingdom favorably, second only to Canada with 90%.

According to the Pew Research Center, a global survey conducted in July 2009 revealed that 70% of Britons who responded had a favorable view of the United States.

Trade and investment

The United States accounts for the United Kingdom's largest single export market, buying $57 billion worth of British goods in 2007.

The United States and the United Kingdom share the world's largest foreign direct investment partnership. In 2005, American direct investment in the United Kingdom totaled $324 billion while British direct investment in the United States totaled $282 billion.

Tourism

More than 4.5 million Britons visit the United States for business and tourism each year, spending approximately $14 billion. Around 3 million Americans visit the United Kingdom every year, spending approximately $10 billion.

Transportation

New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport is the most popular international destination for people flying out of London Heathrow Airport. Approximately 2,802,870 people on multiple daily non-stop flights flew from Heathrow to JFK in 2008. Concorde, British Airway's flagship supersonic airliner that flew the traditional route between London's Heathrow and New York's JFK in under 3 1/2 hours, had its first operational flight between the two hubs on November 23, 1977 and the last being on October 23, 2003.

Cunard Line, a British shipping company which is owned by American parent company, Carnival Corporation, provides seasonal trans-Atlantic crossings aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2 and the MS Queen Victoria between Southampton and New York City.

State and official visits

Reciprocal state and official visits have been carried out over the years by three Presidents of the United States as well as two British monarchs. Throughout her 57-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II has met and dined with a total of ten presidents who have traveled to the United Kingdom for either a state, official, or working visit (Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama), with the notable exception of Lyndon Johnson.

Diplomacy

Common memberships

Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group

Template:UKUSA The Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group is an initiative by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and headed by the United States as a "formal partnership between these nations dedicated to tackling larger global crime issues, particularly organized crime." The cooperation consists of "five countries from three continents banding together to fight cyber crime in a synergistic way by sharing intelligence, swapping tools and best practices, and strengthening and even synchronizing their respective laws."

Within this initiative, there is increased information sharing between the United Kingdom's Serious Organised Crime Agency and the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation on matters relating to serious fraud or cyber crime.

UKUSA Community

The UK-USA Security Agreement is an alliance of five English-speaking countries in the Anglosphere-- Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, for the sole purpose of sharing intelligence. The precursor to this agreement is essentially an extension of the historic BRUSA Agreement which was signed in 1943. In association with the ECHELON system, all five nations are assigned to intelligence collection and analysis from different parts of the world. For example, the United Kingdom hunts for communications in Europe, Africa, and Russia west of the Ural Mountains whereas the United States has responsibility for gathering intelligence in Latin America, Asia, Asiatic Russia, and northern mainland China.

Sister-Twinning cities

England and the United States

Scotland and the United States

• Dundee, Scotland, UK and Alexandria, Virginia, USA
• Edinburgh, Scotland, UK and San Diego, California, USA
• Inverness, Scotland, UK and Inverness, Florida, USA
• Prestwick, Scotland, UK and Vandalia, Ohio, USA
• Stirling, Scotland, UK and Dunedin, Florida, USA
• Stornoway, Scotland, UK and Pendleton, South Carolina, USA

Wales and the United States

• Newport, Wales, UK and Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Northern Ireland and the United States

• Bangor, Northern Ireland, UK and Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
• Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK and Nashville, Tennessee, USA
• Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, UK and Anderson, South Carolina, USA
• Newtonabbey, Northern Ireland, UK and Gilbert, Arizona, USA

UK-USA Friendship links

• Liverpool, England, UK and Memphis, Tennessee, USA
• Liverpool, England, UK and New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Heritage

Because thirteen states in the United States are historical remnants of the original Thirteen Colonies, the United States and its mother country, the United Kingdom, retain significant, shared threads of cultural heritage, many of which are common to all Anglophone countries.

The peoples of the United Kingdom and the United States are historically Christian, although increasingly secular and diverse in the modern era. The legal systems of England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the United States on the federal and state level, with the one exception being the state of Louisiana, are all based on common law. Likewise, the United States Constitution, drafted in 1787 and ratified the following year by the Founding Fathers of the United States, was influenced by the political writings of English philosopher John Locke, the Magna Carta which was signed by King John of England in 1215, and the English Bill of Rights which were ratified by an act of the Parliament of England in 1689.

In the area of economics and as two leading nations that both use a capitalist macroeconomic model, both the United Kingdom and the United States practice what is commonly referred to as an Anglo-Saxon economy in which levels of regulation and taxes are low, and government provides a low to medium level of social services in return.

Since English is the de facto language of both nations, the United Kingdom and the United States are members of the English-speaking world. However, the common language which binds the peoples of the United Kingdom and the United States does come with significant differences in spelling, pronunciation, and the meaning of words.

Because of shared history, the United Kingdom has also had a direct influence on the traditional holidays in which Americans celebrate every year. Thanksgiving Day, a federal holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday of every November, is a traditional gathering of family and friends in remembrance of the Pilgrims, 17th-century Separatists from England who sailed to the New World, and their first seasonal harvest and feast in 1621. Independence Day, a federal holiday celebrated in the United States every 4th of July, is a national celebration which commemorates the July 4, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, the birth of the American republic, the dissolution of ancestral links, and the modern renewal of having good relations with the mother country, the United Kingdom.

Perhaps one of the most endearing and moving symbols of ties between the United Kingdom and the United States is the story of how the American National Anthem came into existence. As British forces bombarded Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the evening of September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key while detained aboard HMS Minden, penned words about the battle which he witnessed on a firsthand account to a poem he entitled, The Defence of Fort McHenry. In later years, the poem was adapted to the melody of the English drinking song, The Anacreontic Song, by Englishman John Stafford Smith.

Popular culture

Literature

Literature is transferred across the Atlantic Ocean, as evidenced by, the appeal of British authors such as William Shakespeare, J. R. R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling in the United States, and American authors such as Dan Brown, Stephen King, and Michael Crichton in the United Kingdom.

T.S. Eliot, a poet and playwright who moved to England in 1914 and became a British subject in 1927, was a leading American author who greatly influenced the Modern period of British literature.

Print journalism

British Sunday broadsheet newspaper The Observer includes a condensed copy of The New York Times.

Film

There is much crossover appeal in the modern entertainment culture of the United States and the United Kingdom. For example, Hollywood blockbuster movies made by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have had a gigantic effect on British audiences in the United Kingdom, while the James Bond and Harry Potter series of films have attracted high interest in the United States. Also, films by Walt Disney have continued to make an indelible mark and incredible impression on British audiences for almost 100 years. Films by Alfred Hitchcock continuously make a tremendous impact on a loyal fan base in the United States, as Alfred Hitchcock himself influenced notable American film makers such as John Carpenter, in the horror and slasher film genres.

Production of films has often been shared between the two nations, whether it be a concentrated use of British and American actors or use of film studios from both nations.

Theatre

The Broadway theatre district in New York City has toured London's West End theatre district over the years, with notable performances such as The Lion King, Grease, Mamma Mia!, and Rent. In contrast, Andrew Lloyd Webber's theatrical scores such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera have found instant success on Broadway. For many years, William Shakespeare's histories, comedies, and tragedies have also proven to be popular in American theatres.

Television

Both the United Kingdom and the United States have television shows which are similar, as they are either carried by the other nations' networks, or are re-created for distribution in their own nations. Some popular British television shows that were re-created for the American market are The Office, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Steptoe and Son (Sanford and Son), Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Pop Idol (American Idol), Queer as Folk, and Til Death Us Do Part (All in the Family). Some American television shows re-created in the United Kingdom are The Apprentice and The Price Is Right. Popular American television shows that are also popular in the United Kingdom include The Simpsons, South Park, Friends, The West Wing, Will & Grace, Scrubs, Family Guy, and the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series. Many British actors appear on American television and vice-versa, for example:

• Star Trek franchise - Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Marina Sirtis (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Dominic Keating (Star Trek: Enterprise)
• Lost – Henry Ian Cusick, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Rebecca Mader, Dominic Monaghan, Marsha Thomason, Sonya Walger
• Boston Legal – Tara Summers, Saffron Burrows
• ER – Parminder Nagra, Alex Kingston
• House (TV Series) – Hugh Laurie
• Prison Break – Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller
• 24 – Sandrine Holt
• Desperate Housewives – Nicollette Sheridan, Dougray Scott
• CSI franchise – Louise Lombard (CSI), Claire Forlani (CSI: NY), Sonya Walger (CSI: NY)
• Law and Order – Linus Roache
• Days of Our Lives - James Scott
• The Wire – Dominic West, Idris Elba
• Lie to Me - Tim Roth
• Mental - Chris Vance
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Lena Headey, Shirley Manson
• Eleventh Hour - Rufus Sewell
• Harper's Island - Adam Campbell (actor), Chris Gauthier
• Others include – Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace), David McCallum (NCIS), Santiago Cabrera (Heroes), Ashley Jensen (Ugly Betty), John Oliver (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Damian Lewis (Life), Anna Friel (Pushing Daisies), Sophia Myles (Moonlight), Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman), Zuleikha Robinson (New Amsterdam).

The BBC airs two television networks in the United States, BBC America and BBC World. Also, the BBC and PBS share many collaborations and rebroadcasts, such as Monty Python's Flying Circus, Doctor Who, Nova, and Masterpiece Theatre. The BBC also frequently collaborates with American network HBO, showing recent American mini-series in the United Kingdom such as Rome, John Adams, Band of Brothers, and The Gathering Storm. The United States Federal Government's tv channel, C-Span, broadcasts Prime Minister's Questions every Sunday.

On some British digital television platforms, it is also possible to watch American television channels direct from the United Kingdom, such as Fox News, as well as American television channels tailored for British audiences such as CNBC Europe, CNN Europe, ESPN Classic UK, Comedy Central UK, and FX UK. The Super Bowl, the NFL's final tournament which occurs every February, has been broadcast in the United Kingdom since 1983 and began airing on Five in 2003.

Music

American artists such as Madonna, Tina Turner, Cher, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Beyoncé, Fergie, and Britney Spears are popular in the United Kingdom. British artists such as The Beatles, Sting, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Natasha Bedingfield, KT Tunstall, Leona Lewis, and Coldplay have achieved success in the large American market. Undoubtedly, the popular music of both nations has had a strong sway on each other.

In the United Kingdom, many Hollywood films are closely associated and identified with the musical scores and soundtracks created by famous American composers such as Henry Mancini, John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Jerry Goldsmith, and James Horner.

The Celtic music of the United Kingdom has had a dynamic effect upon American music. In particular, the traditional music of the Southern United States is descended from traditional Celtic music and English folk music of the colonial period, and the musical traditions of the South eventually gave rise to country music and, to a lesser extent, American folk.

The birth of jazz, swing, big band, and especially rock n roll, which in itself originated in the United States by famous American entertainers such as Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley, had greatly influenced the later development of rock music in the United Kingdom, particularly British rock bands such as The Beatles and the Rolling Stones, while it's American precursor, the blues, greatly influenced British electric rock.

Quotations

I cannot but lament. . . the impending Calamities Britain and her Colonies are about to suffer, from great Imprudencies on both Sides -- Passion governs, and she never governs wisely -- Anxiety begins to disturb my Rest.

— Benjamin Franklin,

Once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, the colonies will submit.

— King George III,

I never saw such fighting. . . since God made me.

— Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis,

The injuries we have received from the British nation were so unprovoked, and have been so great and so many, that they can never be forgotten.

— George Washington,

I was the last to consent to the Separation, but the Separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the Friendship of the United States as an independent Power. . . let the Circumstances of Language; Religion and Blood have their natural and full Effect.

— King George III,

The appointment of a Minister from the United States to your Majesty’s Court, will form an Epocha in the History of England & of America. I think myself more fortunate than all my fellow Citizens in having the distinguished Honor to be the first to stand in your Majesty’s royal Presence in a diplomatic Character . . .

— John Adams,

I considered the British as our natural enemies, and as the only nation on earth who wished us ill from the bottom of their souls. And I am satisfied that were our continent to be swallowed up by the ocean, Great Britain would be in a bonfire from one end to the other.

— Thomas Jefferson,

England and America are two countries separated by a common language.

— George Bernard Shaw,

Mr. President (Roosevelt), I believe you are trying to do away with the British Empire. Every idea you entertain about the structure of the postwar world demonstrates it.... But in spite of that, you constitute our only hope. You know it. We know it. You know that we know that without America, the British Empire won't stand.

— Sir Winston Churchill,

I've tried to make it clear ... that while we're Britain's allies and in it to victory by their side, they must never get the idea that we're in it just to help them hang on to their archaic, medieval empire ideas ... I hope they realize they're not the senior partner; that we are not going to sit by and watch their system stultify the growth of every country in Asia and half the countries in Europe to boot.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt,

These two great organisations of the English-speaking democracies, the British Empire and the United States, will have to be somewhat mixed up together in some of their affairs for mutual and general advantage. For my own part, looking out upon the future, I do not view the process with any misgivings. I could not stop it if I wished; no one can stop it. Like the Mississippi, it just keeps rolling along. Let it roll. Let it roll on full flood, inexorable, irresistible, benignant, to broader lands and better days.

— Sir Winston Churchill,

We lost the American colonies because we lacked the statesmanship to know the right time and the manner of yielding what is impossible to keep.

— Queen Elizabeth II,

We are bound by so much more than just language. Many of our values, beliefs, and principles of government were nurtured on this soft. I also thought of how our future security and prosperity depend on the continued unity of Britain and America.

— Ronald Reagan,

I am not sure, with America as it is these days, that it would be easy for someone, even the British, to be an honest broker.

— Jacques Chirac,

Churchill saw Joseph P. Kennedy as the greatest impediment to his aim of getting the United States to help Britain in its struggle against Nazi Germany. He thought that Kennedy was a defeatist, an appeaser, perhaps pro-Hitler.

— Michael Beschloss,

What I think and fear is that Britain will draw back from the US without moving closer to Europe. In that sense London’s bridge is falling down.

— Kendall Myers,

Gallery

• King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with Eleanor Roosevelt in London, 1942.
• Anthony Eden greeting Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Quebec Conference as Eleanor Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill look on, 1943.
• Eleanor Roosevelt, Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, and Clementine Churchill at the Second Quebec Conference, 1944.
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower with Sir Winston Churchill and Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery at a NATO meeting, 1951.
• Richard and Patricia Nixon with Harold and Mary Wilson on the South Lawn at the White House, 1970.
• Queen Elizabeth II and Patricia Nixon, 1970.
• Richard Nixon with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, 1970.
• Gerald and Betty Ford having lunch with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at the White House, 1976.
• Ronald Reagan addressing the British Parliament, 1982. Ronald Reagan addressing the British Parliament, 1982.
• Ronald and Nancy Reagan with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Rancho del Cielo, 1983.
• John Travolta dancing with Diana, Princess of Wales at the White House, 1985.
• Margaret Thatcher seen walking with Ronald Reagan at Camp David, 1986.
• Ronald and Nancy Reagan with Margaret and Dennis Thatcher at the beginning of an official dinner at the White House, 1988.
• George H.W. Bush and John Major conducting a press conference at Camp David, 1992.
• Bill Clinton and Tony Blair embracing each other at a conference in Florence, Italy, 1999.
• Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and George W. Bush in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace before a review of Foot Guards of the Household Division, 2003.
• Queen Elizabeth II reviewing an honor guard during a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn of the White House, 2007. Queen Elizabeth II reviewing an honor guard during a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn of the White House, 2007.
• Gordon Brown and George W. Bush having their first meeting at Camp David, 2007.
• Tony Blair being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush, 2009.

See also

• Foreign policy of the United States
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• Special Relationship
• Transatlantic relations

Bibliography

• Ephraim Douglass Adams; Great Britain and the American Civil War 2 vol 1925
• H. C. Allen; Great Britain and the United States: A History of Anglo-American Relations, 1783-1952 (1954)
• Burt, Alfred L. The United States, Great Britain, and British North America from the Revolution to the Establishment of Peace after the War of 1812. (1940), detailed history by Canadian scholar; online
• Charles S. Campbell, Anglo-American Understanding 1898-1903 (1957)
• John Charmley. Churchill's Grand Alliance: The Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-57 (1996)
• Martin Crawford. The Anglo-American Crisis of the Mid-Nineteenth Century: The Times and America, 1850-1862 (1987)
• Alan P Dobson. Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century (1995)
• John Dumbrell. A special relationship: Anglo-American relations from the cold war to Iraq (2006)
• Robert M. Hendershot. Family Spats: Perception, Illusion, and Sentimentality in the Anglo-American Special Relationship (2008)
• Jonathan Hollowell; Twentieth-Century Anglo-American Relations (2001)
• Christopher Hitchens. Blood, Class and Empire: The Enduring Anglo-American Relationship (2004)
• Roger Louis; Imperialism at Bay: The United States and the Decolonization of the British Empire, 1941-1945 (1978)* William Roger Louis and Hedley Bull. The "Special Relationship": Anglo-American Relations since 1945 (1987)
• Bradford Perkins; The First Rapprochement: England and the United States, 1795-1805 (1955)
• Edwin J Perkins. Financing Anglo-American trade: The House of Brown, 1800-1880 (1975)
• Shawcross, William. Allies: The U.S., Britain, Europe and the War in Iraq (2004)
• Woods, Randall Bennett. Changing of the Guard: Anglo-American Relations, 1941-1946 (1990)

Notes

1. FT.com / Home UK / UK - Ties that bind: Bush, Brown and a different relationship
2. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy09/pdf/budget/defense.pdf
3. Ember et al 2004, p. 49 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFEmber_et_al2004 (help).
4. Perkins (1955)
5. The Colins Encyclopedia of Military History, Dupey & Dupey, BCA 1994, page 870
6. "History of the War of 1812". Retrieved 2009-08-10.
7. ^ Allen (1954)
8. Adams (1925)
9. Campbell, Anglo-American Understanding 1898-1903 (1957), p. 340.
10. Dignan 1971 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFDignan1971 (help)
11. The WW1 Databook, J Ellis & M Cox, Aurum press 2001, page 245
12. Allen (1954); Hollowell; Twentieth-Century Anglo-American Relations (2001)
13. Leo T. Crowley, "Lend Lease" in Walter Yust, ed. 10 Eventful Years (1947)1:520, 2, pp. 858–860.
14. Charmley. Churchill's Grand Alliance: The Anglo-American Special Relationship 1940-57 (1996); Hollowell; Twentieth-Century Anglo-American Relations (2001)
15. "What's a little debt between friends?". Retrieved 2007-11-11.
16. "Lockheed Martin Awarded Support Contract for United Kingdom's Fleet Ballistic Missile Program?". Retrieved 2009-11-08.
17. "Lockheed Martin Awarded Support Contract for United Kingdom's Fleet Ballistic Missile Program?". Retrieved 2009-11-08.
18. Simon Jenkins, "American Involvement In The Falklands" The Economist, 3rd March 1984
19. Shawcross (2004)
20. "Sometimes, I pretend I am Canadian". Helen Kirwan-Taylor. Retrieved 2007-07-13.
21. "US and UK: A transatlantic love story?". BBC. Retrieved 06/09/2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
22. "British hand over Basra command to US". The Telegraph. Retrieved 07/20/2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
23. "Foreign Office fury over settlement of Guantánamo Uighurs in Bermuda".
24. "Lockerbie bomber freed from jail".
25. "Obama Administration "Deeply Disappointed" Lockerbie Bomber Released".
26. "Strong words from the FBI".
27. "Brown 'opposed bomber jail death'".
28. "Government forced to deny Lockerbie bomber trade deal".
29. "Boycott calls over bomber release". BBC.
30. "Lockerbie bomber: A grievous blow to the Special Relationship". The Telegraph.
31. "Lockerbie bombing: Brown's 'duplicity' threatens special relationship". Daily Telegraph.
32. "Ambassador: US-UK ties intact despite Lockerbie". The Associated Press.
33. "Scotland's standing 'needs work'". BBC.
34. FT.com / Home UK / UK - Ties that bind: Bush, Brown and a different relationship
35. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7866859.stm
36. "Obama's Blockbuster Gift for Brown: 25 DVDs -".
37. "Michelle Obama's warm touch with queen draws gasps". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
38. "Queen's secret Palace tour for Obama girls revealed amid Trooping The Colour festivities". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
39. ^ "Poll ranks Canada second in list of top U.S. allies". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
40. "President Obama makes US popular in Europe again, Pew poll says". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
41. "Trade and Investment with the United States". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
42. "Trade and Investment with the United States". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
43. "UK & USA relations". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
44. "UK Airport Statistics". {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |Web site= ignored (help)
45. THE OBSERVER TO FEATURE NEW YORK TIMES WEEKLY SUPPLEMENT | Press office | guardian.co.uk
46. "Traitors, Seamstresses, and Generals: Voices of the American Revolution" Washington American Revolution: Quotes
47. "King George III Quotes" . Brainy Quotes
48. "Traitors, Seamstresses, and Generals: Voices of the American Revolution" Washington American Revolution: Quotes
49. "Traitors, Seamstresses, and Generals: Voices of the American Revolution" Washington American Revolution: Quotes
50. "Eyewitness: John Adams - Audience with King George III, 1785. National Archives
51. "Eyewitness: John Adams - Audience with King George III, 1785. National Archives
52. America and Great Britain: Jefferson Quotations . Monticello
53. America and Great Britain: Jefferson Quotations . The Quotations Page
54. The Other War: FDR's Battle Against Churchill and the British Empire . American Almanac
55. George Bernard Shaw . American Almanac
56. "Hegemony and Decline: Britain and the United States," in Two Hegemonies: Britain 1846-1914 and the United States 1941-2001 . Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
57. Elizabeth II Quotes. Brainy Quotes
58. Ronald Reagan . The American Presidency Project
59. Backing Bush has won you nothing, Chirac tells Britain . Times Online
60. The Kennedys Transcript . PBS
61. US State Department official - relationship is one-sided . Times Online

References

• Template:Harvard reference.

External links

• John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British American Relations
• An analysis of the Special Relationship from a British perspective. From the Second World War to the latest global problems facing the United States.
• Lecture: Anti-Americanism and American Exceptionalism
• The Hatred of England
• The Other War: FDR's Battle Against Churchill and the British Empire.

v t e Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
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v t e Foreign relations of the United States
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• United Kingdom–United States relations
• Bilateral relations of the United States