Submission from the US Embassy, London
The U.S.-UK Relationship (USA 20)
Our Story
Relations between the United States and the United Kingdom are unlike those between any other two countries. The Times of London wrote in 1913, “Great Britain and the United States stand to one another in a special relationship, and between them some departure from the merely official attitude is most natural.” The relationship is still special and it is still natural. In a 2012 poll, ninety percent of the American public viewed the United Kingdom favorably and the trend was rising. President Obama reflected the American view when he said, “…our people – and the people around the world – are more secure and more prosperous when the United States and the United Kingdom stand together.”
The history of the U.S.-UK relationship is not one of unrelieved harmony starting, as it did, with the American Revolutionary War and carrying on into the War of 1812. During the twenty-year period from 1895 to 1915, historians note that U.S. and British foreign policies moved into general, cooperative alignment; they call it the “Great Rapprochement.” When the U.S. in 1917 overcame its reluctance to enter World War I, it clearly would do so on the side of the Anglo-French Entente. President Woodrow Wilson said the U.S. entered the war “to make the world safe for democracy.” President Franklin Roosevelt echoed that theme when he announced in 1940 the U.S. intention to serve as the “Arsenal of Democracy” even before entering World War II, and in the 1941 Atlantic Charter, in which Roosevelt and Winston Churchill pledged to advance democracy around the world after the defeat of Nazi Germany. The wartime alliance -- based on joint planning and shared intelligence -- proved resilient as the United States and UK partnered with other allies to win the Cold War and then to deal with post-Cold War terrorism threats.
All along, however, there have been areas of disagreement, as one would expect between two countries with global interests. In the longer sweep of history, however, what appeared to be fundamental U.S.-UK disagreements now look like dated disagreements. Most Americans probably are more understanding of the UK’s refusal to commit troops to Vietnam than the American public was at the time. The Skybolt affair, which involved nuclear weapons systems, bedeviled the otherwise excellent relationship between John Kennedy and Harold Macmillan. Far from marking “the end of the special relationship,” as was then feared, today it is barely remembered. Issues have come and gone, the strong relationship has endured.
Close by Values, Close by Choice
The U.S.-UK relationship withstood shocks because it is based largely on common values (which usually, but not always, lead to shared interests). It’s also based on the American and British publics’ preference for each other’s products, management styles, culture, entertainment, and sense of humor. Monty Python and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes are hugely popular in the United States, as is “Downton Abbey” (but Marmite has yet to gain a foothold in America); ”Homeland” is the top-rated show with British audiences.
We are the largest investors in each other’s economies and high, mutual levels of tourism and foreign study reflect personal choices by Americans and Britons to remain close. It is not simply a matter of a shared language. Many countries share languages but lack the instinctive affinity that exists between the United States and the United Kingdom. Americans know more place names from London (Westminster, Baker Street, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Charing Cross) than they do from some American cities. Britons have an enduring fascination with the American West, jazz, and Hollywood personalities, and British tabloids have a strong predilection for carrying American human interest stories. If evidence is needed that this shared attraction is persisting, consider that a large part of America’s youth have grown up imagining themselves in Middle Earth, Narnia, or at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Elvis Presley, Madonna, and Michael Jackson are among the ten top-selling artists ever in the UK.
Part of the enduring strength of U.S.-UK relations also comes from societal similarities and shared challenges. Economic success, political stability, and rootedness in freedom and liberty have made both the United States and the United Kingdom attractive countries for immigrants. In 1960, the foreign-born population of both the United States and the UK was around 5 percent. Today, the number for both countries is around 12 percent. The U.S. and UK are joint leaders in higher education. Most international comparisons show that American and British universities dominate the ranks of the world’s top twenty universities. In science and research, American and British scientists win a disproportionate number of Nobel prizes. The text of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2008 Boumediene decision, regarding a Guantanamo detainee, is a telling indicator of the depth of U.S.-UK history, shared culture, and common social challenges. The U.S. Supreme Court made two dozen references to English law as precedent-setting in the course of its reasoning. Relying on the decisions of foreign courts is distinctly outside of American legal tradition. For the U.S. Supreme Court to cite English law, and for it to do so without arousing comment, says much about the U.S.-UK relationship.
Sharing the World’s Stage
U.S. and UK influence on one another is profound, but the special relationship has also had a great impact on the world stage. At the most fundamental level, the United States and the UK share a “maritime outlook” that prevails over isolationist tendencies. We believe trade with the world is basic to our prosperity, our national security is tied to events beyond our shores, and the well-being of our countries depends on influencing developments in other countries. The United Kingdom’s military capabilities, development assistance budget, and unparalleled “soft power” make it a uniquely capable ally for the United States.
As two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States and UK speak with rare international authority. Their shared memberships in NATO, the OECD, the OSCE, and other organizations provide additional venues in which to cooperate to their international advantage. Beyond that, the UK is a member of the world’s most important organization to which the United States does not belong, the European Union. The United States has its own close ties to the EU and does not need the UK to serve as a “bridge” to the organization. But common U.S.-UK attitudes towards world trade, development policy, the value of international sanctions, and other issues, often find an expression within the EU through UK membership, to the benefit of both the United States and the EU.
The United States and the United Kingdom have shared values, a history of global involvement, and a common vision of the world we seek – one of respect for the rule of law, economic development, environmental protection, a liberal trading system, democracy, peace, and one which values a plurality of cultures and religions. Together, we act internationally to promote “fundamental human rights, the dignity and worth of people, the equal rights of men and women, and better standards of life in larger freedom.” Those are not just American and British goals: the words are taken from the Preamble of the Charter of the United Nations. The kind of world we want to live in is much more likely to be achieved when the United States and the United Kingdom work together.
January 2014