Originally Posted by
mopardave
and I'm wondering about the much talked about "special relationship". How exactly would they define "special"? I think "America first" is more appropriate right now.
The 'special relationship' is a much-abused and misunderstood term. No-one serious thinks that the UK has any sort of privileged political relationship with the US: it's a fantasy that some indulge themselves in by conjuring images of Maggie and Ronnie, or George W and Tony, and is a staple of right-wing British papers in denial that Suez ever happened. It's more reasonable to talk of a 'special relationship' in the military, intelligence and technological spheres; no two other states cooperate so deeply in the most sensitive matters. The Polaris and Trident programmes are the two most obvious examples. The UK was in on the U-2 and F-117 while they were 'black' programmes and was the sole Tier 1 partner in F-35. GCHQ and NSA are reputedly well-intertwined. I'm sure there will be phone calls being exchanged between senior British officers, civil servants, spooks, regional experts etc and their counterparts in Washington to reassure each other that business continues as usual despite the "imbecilic" noises coming from current and retired politicians and foreign policy wonks.