Historically, the “Special Relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom has been the centerpiece of our efforts to strengthen security and spread liberty around the world. Maintaining the Anglo-American partnership remains critical to U.S. interests, particularly winning the war on terrorism, countering nuclear proliferation by such states as Iran and North Korea, and advancing our common principles and values on the global stage.
How did the United Kingdom rank in the Index of Economic Freedom? Click here to find out. Read More.
Similar trans-Atlantic experiences reflect more than the economic linkage between England and the United States or the well-known swing of the political pendulum. Read More.
Abstract: The United States was born out of a popular revolt against a distant and autocratic government, and its model has always been based around the maximum decentralization and democratization of power. Now that model is being abandoned. The policies currently being pursued amount…
On March 13–14, British Prime Minister David Cameron will make an official visit to the United States complete with a state dinner, reciprocating the state visit by President Barack Obama to Britain in May 2011. It comes in advance of NATO and G-8 summits; in the midst of crises in…
Abstract: In May 2010, the U.K. general election resulted in a hung Parliament from which emerged a Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition with Conservative leader David Cameron as Prime Minister. The experiment was widely justified by the evident need to cope with the economic crisis and,…
President Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 13–14. The official visit will be dominated by the eurozone crisis, developments in Syria, Iran’s nuclear program, and Afghanistan. For the U.K., the Falkland Islands will also be an important agenda item. In addition, this…
In a blatant show of disdain for the Anglo–American Special Relationship, the Obama Administration has weighed in on the mounting tensions between Great Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Just two days after Prime Minister David Cameron issued a robust statement in the House of Commons in mid-January vowing…
In 2002, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher warned that building a European Union superstate “will seem in future years to be perhaps the greatest folly of the modern era.” Less than a decade later, she’s being proved right, as the EU faces the biggest crisis in its history. …
Britain is soul-searching after raging youth mobs, some among them not yet teens, left five people dead and property damages estimated at $325 million in five nights of anarchy. In the rubble of the riots, the British are unearthing the lexicon of right…
President Obama was effusive in his praise for the Special Relationship when he visited London in May, but his Administration continues to slap Britain in the face over the highly sensitive Falkland Islands sovereignty issue by aligning itself with Argentina’s call for U.N.-brokered talks on the future of the islands.…
Abstract It may take years before the results of NATO’s military operations against Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s Libyan regime can finally be judged, but the issues raised by the crisis are of immediate importance. …
During his state visit to the United Kingdom on May 24–26, President Barack Obama should speak clearly to Prime Minister David Cameron about the serious damage that the latest round of British defense cuts is doing to Britain’s armed forces. The Special Relationship between the U.S. and Great Britain rests…
May I first say how delighted I am to be speaking to you today at the prestigious Heritage Foundation. This is my fourth visit to the United States, but only my first to Washington. I first came to your country over 40 years ago when I was an English-Speaking Union student debater in colleges…
On Tuesday, September 21, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reported favorably on the U.S.–U.K. Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty, the U.S.–Australia Defense Trade Cooperation Treaty, and a bill that would implement both of these treaties. On Monday, September 27, the Senate, by unanimous consent, approved this implementing legislation. …
Great Britain is a founding member of NATO. It is currently fighting wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but is spending less of its gross domestic product (GDP) on its armed forces than at any point since the Great Depression. A failure of political leadership in Britain has allowed defense issues, and the standing…
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Just two months ago, the Special Relationship was written off by its critics as an anachronism, supposedly dying a slow but painful death, hand in hand with British decline. The Labour-dominated House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee effectively declared it to be dead, and recommended the phrase be dropped altogether…
During his state visit to the United Kingdom on May 24–26, President Barack Obama should reaffirm the vital importance of the Special Relationship.[1] This affirmation should go beyond words and address the tensions in the Anglo–American alliance that have built up during the President’s first two years in…
Abstract: The summit meeting in May between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron comes at an important moment in the Special Relationship between the United States and Great Britain. The two powers lead NATO, which has again proved that it is the only European and Atlantic institution…
Britain’s Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR), released in October 2010, has already led to significant cuts in the size and capabilities of Britain’s armed forces, with more reductions in the years to come. These reductions came on top of those made by the previous Labour government and failed to…
Last week, the British government made a decision to change from the Carrier Variant of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)...…
Britain's Liam Fox has a warning for America: Fix the debt problem now or suffer the consequences of less power on the...…
At this point in the Eurozone crisis, the only responsible thing for European leaders to do is to develop contingency...…
Heritage and the Wall Street Journal released the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom on Thursday, ranking 179 countries on...…
I had the privilege of attending the Ronald Reagan Centennial Gala in Washington earlier this week. Superbly organised...…
When President Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate in West Germany and famously demanded that Soviet leader...…
The Franco-American-British coalition leading military intervention in Libya has demonstrated the cardinal rule of...…
The Special Relationship between the U.S. and Britain has many facets, but at its core is close cooperation in the...…
Last Friday, British newspapers reported that the U.S. had agreed to supply Russia with sensitive information on...…
According to British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, the United Kingdom will put into place “a radical new...…
Senior Research Fellow in Anglo-American Relations
Director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom