The special relationship – running out of gas?

When people talk of ‘The Special Relationship’, all sorts of opinions and ideas spring to mind. Some feel it is an alliance of which the security of the world depends on; others find it nauseating to see Cameron and Obama flipping burgers at a Downing Street BBQ.

As we step back and survey the Anglo-American car’s long journey on a winding road, we see that the two countries have been bound together not by the intertwining political cultures of today, but by uncanny resemblances between its leaders.

If we squint our eyes, we can see far down that road two ageing faces guiding the Anglo-American car of the 50s, perhaps a Peugeot 403. Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower’s finest days came in the war; they now look nervously out of the window to a dark world terrified by the prospect of a new war with the Soviet Union. And yet from the grey clouds of the 50s, from the political assassination of Anthony Eden in ‘57, and the real assassination of JFK in ‘63, came two new political soulmates. Into the 60s, in their 1960 Ford Falcon, Lyndon Johnson and Harold Wilson, two insecure men who are obsessed with power, peer out the window with greed; they are eyeing up the rapid technological and social changes during this decade of colour and optimism. They are intuitively aware that this is their chance to present themselves as figureheads of innovation and of all things modern.

And how about the early 70s? Richard Nixon and Ted Heath came to prominence as figures of authority who would stand up for the common man and woman, ‘the great silent majority’ as the President referred to them, who despaired at the radical social changes taking place. Yet withNixon’s ground-breaking visits to China and the Soviet Union in ‘72 and Heath’sdecision to take Britain into the EEC in ’73, this pair of internationalists refuse to merely sit in their car observing an unstable world. And let’s not forget the late 70swhen the two JC’s, Jimmy Carter and Jim Callaghan, had to drive through a particularly bumpy part of the road covered in a dark fog similar to that of the 50s. Remarkably similar, they presided over stagnant economies and rising unemployment.One faced an energy crisis and the other a ‘Winter of Discontent’. Yet they are both widely seen as the best-intentioned political leaders of the two countries, and have had, especially President Carter, incredibly long and successful careers after leaving office.

The 80s was the decade for two true political soul mates. Reagan and Thatcher stepped on the accelerator, undeterred by petrol costs and environmental damage, and sought to salvage their countries, which they saw in decline, by repeatedly kicking them up the buttocks with financial discipline, privatisation and tax cuts. And as we move into the early 90s the road comes into view. George Bush Sr. and John Major were prominent figures in the 80s, and came into office under the pretence that they would continue to break the speed limit like their predecessors, when in fact they subtly and astutely eased off the accelerator and gently tickled the brakes.
And what of Mr Blair? He and his brother, Bill Clinton, are the young, good-looking and thoroughly modern children of Thatcher and Reagan, bringing a new element of progressivism to their parents’ policies. Yet also in the car is his best pal, George Bush Jr, who, like Blair, approaches foreign policy with a ‘Good guy Vs. Bad guy’ mentality, which would lead to a disastrous war in Iraq.

And so why have Obama’s relationships with Brown and Cameron seemed unnatural and awkward?
Brown and Cameron have insisted that we must stay as close to the US as possible for the sake of our standing in the world, perhaps like an over attached partner of a Hollywood celebrity would be afraid of losing their standing on the red carpet.

Attempts to reignite ‘The Special Relationship’ have failed because there is now little distinction between our political cultures. Recent phenomenon’s such as Piers Morgan interviewing US politicians on CNN, British politicians, namely David Miliband and Louise Mensch, leaving parliament for new lives in the US, and Obama’s very public criticism of Cameron’s recent EU speech, underline just how that Anglo-American car has become an overcrowded bus.

Unfortunately for Mr Cameron, it is far easier to get those grand photo opportunities in a spacious car, than on an overcrowded bus.