Answer:Since World War II, Britain and the United States have enjoyed extremely close ties in a diversity of areas, forming what has been known as the “special relationship”. This phrase, coined by Winston Churchill, underscores the military, diplomatic and economic cooperation that has existed between them ever since their successful alliance during World War II, the shared cultural and historical identity between Britain and its ex-colony, and on a smaller scale the close personal relationships that existed between some of the leaders of both countries. Despite all this, some critics have seen it as an unequal relationship that has left the UK in a weak position in relation to the more powerful US (Wright 2002). This essay will analyze the pros and cons of the special relationship in three different areas: military intervention, defense, and economy, in order to prove that the special relationship’s benefits have far outweighed the disadvantages and that the relationship has been a positive one for Britain.
Explanation:Military cooperation in the international sphere has been the cornerstone of the Anglo-American special relationship. Starting during World War II, with the victory of the Atlantic Alliance over the Axis powers, it continued during the post-war years and the Cold War (Thomson, 1990). Both the US and the UK feared the Soviet threat and the spread of communism in Europe and beyond, so military ties between the two were strengthened. Their air forces reached in 1946 “an agreement to continue their wartime collaboration in staff methods, tactics, equipment and research” (Baylis 1977, p.70). In 1947, “further agreement was also reached on an extension of co-operation in officer exchanges for training purposes” (Baylis 1977, p.70). Both countries also gained mutual access to each other’s military information.
