The Special Relationship Lives Between the United States and Britain

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The United States and Britain have had a “special relationship” since World War II. Winston Churchill made the expression “special relationship” it stands for the military, political and financial support that has existed between the United States and Britain ever since their partnership in World War II. The special relationship stills lives on in the United States and Britain in four key ways; military involvement, security, economy and traded. The US and the UK both feared the Soviet threat, of the spread of communism in Europe, so military ties between the US and UK was fortified. In 1946 the US and UK air forces reached “an agreement to continue their wartime partnership in man power, strategies, gear and investigation” (Baylis 1977, p.70).Also in 1947, “further agreement was also reached on an extension of co-operation in officer exchanges for training purposes” (Baylis 1977, p.70). The US and UK also got shared access to each other’s military information. Since World War II, the US has been an important part in guaranteeing the UK’s safety and protection. The US kept a large amount of troops in Europe throughout the post-World War II years, when economically overwhelmed countries faced the risk of the Soviet Union. By keeping troop in Europe this helped lower the UK’s military costs (Baylis 1984). Also, defense support by the US continued after the Cold War, with 11,000 American military soldiers still in Britain through 2005. Furthermore, the UK takes part in the US Ballistic Defense program (Dumbrell 2006), and both countries work together in the field of nuclear defense. Nuclear weapons development has been a study of strong US-UK teamwork. The McMahon Act and the creation of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement, the UK got ... ... middle of paper ... ...umbrell, J. (2000) A Special Relationship. Anglo-American Relations in the Cold War and After. 2nd Edition. London: Macmillan. Gardner, R. (2001) ‘The Marshall Plan Fifty Years Later: Three What-Ifs and a When’, in Schain, M. (ed.) The Marshall Plan: Fifty Years After. New York: Palgrave, p.119-129. Leigh-Pippard, H. (1995) Congress and US Military Aid to Britain: Interdependence and Dependence, 1949-56. 1st Edition. Basingstoke: Macmillan. Ovendale, R. (1998) Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century. 1st Edition. Basingstoke : Macmillan. Raymond, R. (2006) ‘Anglo-American Economic and Business Relationships: A British Perspective’, in McCausland, J. D. and Stuart D. T. (eds.) U.S.-UK Relations at the Start of the 21ST Century. Strategic Studies Institute [Online.] Available at: http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/ (Accessed: 27 January 2014).

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