Why Does the UK Attach Such Importance to Close Diplomatic Relations with the USA - Essay Example

Name: University: Course: Tutor: Date: Why does the United Kingdom attach such importance to close diplomatic relations with the United States? Introduction History has it that the United States of America shares a lot of diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom as a result of the common interests that these two different countries shares or pursues within their regional and international locations. The close relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is described and considered by historians as a brotherly kind of relationship (affair), this is clearly indicated in history records that the vast majority of the occupants of the United States of America were white settlers who moved into the country from the United Kingdom that was in the early 16th century. This was the time when the Spaniards lead by Christopher Columbus were making frequent trips to the United States of Americas coast in search of precious minerals while the United Kingdom were in search of the markets for their manufactured products and in the process they liked the terrains and the agricultural potential of the country. This automatically resulted to the British settlers to reconsider their agricultural ambitions in the United States of America (Bartlett, 1992: 40). The United States of America had huge chunks of land that were not being cultivated as the American natives were not that much in the cultivation of the land. The idle state of the Americans land attracted a large number of British settlers who came into the country with the main objective of cultivating the country’s bare land; this eventually resulted to the British settlers settling permanently in the United States of America thus alienating themselves from their motherland (United Kingdom) (Dumbrell, 2006: 83). The alienation of the British settlers from Britain resulted to the Anglo-Americans from there own political parties and government, this was in order for them to be in a position to operate more effectively with no external interferences and influences. This definitely resulted to the 1775 war that eventually lead to the Declaration of independence later in 1776 and several years later the United States of Americas constitution was written in (1789), thus it became an independent nation that was sovereign and had it’s own legislations and the government was free from any external (European) influences (Dumbrell, 2006: 22). After the independence of the United States of America from the British, the country continued in rebuilding and redrafting of the country’s constitution in order for the constitution to accommodate the interests of the different citizens of the country who included the natives, African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Latinos amongst other minor groups. History describes the existence of the relationship between the United States of America and the United Kingdom that is why these two nations are considered to be very close nations from way back, in matters of international importance, such as the 1st and 2nd World Wars, Cold War, Anti-Terrorism War, The Middle East Crisis and also the 1991 invasion into Iraq and 2003 invasion into Afghanistan after the London bombing and the New York bombings by the al-Qaida terror group. Additionally other humanitarian assistance has been supported by both the nations to the developing nations especially the African and Asian nations (Gamble, 2003:25). Why the close diplomatic relations exists between the United Kingdom and the United States? The first reason for the close diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is as a result of the similar characteristics between these two nations, the closeness is as a result of the historical background of these nations, the language these countries speak, the legal system arrangements of these countries, culture and the ancestral ties that exists between these two nations that can be easily traced for hundreds of years. These are seen as some of the reasons that unite these two countries as the nationals of both the countries feel that they are very much the same and related to each other despite the differences in localities (Bartlett, 2006: 70). This has resulted to the close diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom governments with the United States of America government in almost all international forums resulting to the close relationship that is currently being experienced between the two nations today. The other reason for the close diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is linked to achieving the world’s peace thus reducing cases of wars and rebellions amongst nations that will automatically affect the peace of the entire world (Dumbrell, 2006: 80). It is believed that international peace will be realized as a result of the unification of the world’s nations therefore the higher numbers of countries closely relating to the United States, the closer the peace of the world is realized. Thus the close diplomatic ties between United Kingdom and the united states of America, is seen as a platform for the realization of the international peace, this is seen as they are the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and this is a way they will use there influence to maintain the world’s peace. This is also experienced in their declaration against terrorism by being some of the great nations that are against anti-terrorism (Hathaway, 1990: 76). It is also agued that the diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America is a way that these countries aim at fulfilling their mutual needs (cooperation) such as improving their trade relationships, improved infrastructure, technology, academic, art and science, at the same time sharing the military and government intelligence (Gamble, 2003:115). This is clearly seen in the numbers of the foreign investors in both the two countries with both the two countries recording a large number of foreign investors as a result of the two governments providing these foreign investors with ample atmosphere for trade and investment thus attracting new investors from both the two countries as a result of the good trade atmosphere that is provided by both governments (Bartlett, 1992: 109). Incidents of the collaborations are well seen in history this was during the Great depression period just after the civil war of the 18th century in the United States of America when the United Kingdom financed the government into rebuilding the country’s deteriorated infrastructure and at the same time improving its economy. The United Kingdom has also ensured that a close diplomatic relationship exists between it and the United States of America as a result of maintaining its dominance in the world military and economy fields. It is noted that the United Kingdom has the most sophisticated military equipments in the entire world while its currency is also considered to be the most valuable currency the world over (Peterson & Pollack, 2003: 23). Thus in order for the country to maintain its dominance in both the military and economic fields it has to associate with a nation that possesses the same characteristics that it has, in this case is the United States of America. This will result to the countries dominating both the international military and economical fronts, eventually helping United Kingdom and the United States of America to maintain there superiority amongst other nations in the world (Hathaway, 1990: 126). A clear evidence of military support that the United States of America received from the United Kingdom was in 1991 when the United States of America invaded Iraq; the United States of America received weapons and military intelligence from the United Kingdom and the same applied in the 2003 invasion of United States of America in Afghanistan and at the same time the deployment of the United States of America and United Kingdom military troops in Afghanistan and Iraq (Burk, 2007: 32). Tourism is also considered to be the other reason that has maintained the close diplomatic ties between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The close relationship is maintained between these nations in order to improve the numbers of tourists that each country records annually. According to the United Kingdom Tourism Board approximately 3 millions Americans visit the United Kingdom thus improving the country’s economy by spending around $10 billion. On the other hand, around 4.5 million British citizens visit the United States of America thus improving the United States of America’s economy by $14 billion (Dumbrell, 2006:118). Tourists has been considered to be one of the leading income bringer in the United Kingdom and this has eventually made the country to value her relationship with the United States of America, this is because the United Kingdom considers U.S to be the leading country in yielding tourist income in the country. Trans-Atlantic trade is also considered to be the other element that fosters that strong diplomatic relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America. This trade agreement was signed after the Second World War was aimed at promoting the trade relations between the United Kingdom and the United States of America (Bartlett, 1992: 69). This allowed for free trade between these countries thus improving the trade relations between these two nations, thus resulting in an increase in the economy of the two countries as a result of the increase in exports. This has also improved the transport routes between the two countries ultimately increasing the numbers of American visiting the United Kingdom and vise versa as direct flight route between United Kingdom and the United States of America are developed through the London’s Heathrow international airport and the New York’s JFK international airport which records approximately 2,802,870 people on multiple non-stop flights daily (Gamble, 2003: 125). United Kingdom has also maintained a close diplomatic tie with the United States of America through official state visits to the later. The state officials use the state visits as ways of evaluation and strengthening their diplomatic relationship, one most popular state visits that was conducted with the united kingdom state official to the united states of America was in May 3–8, 2007, when Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, visited Richmond, Jamestown, and Williamsburg (Virginia), Louisville (Kentucky), Greenbelt (Maryland), and Washington D.C. (Burk, 2007: 159). This is a trend that both the countries have used in order to ensure that their diplomatic ties are intact as the united states of America state officials have also retaliating to the united kingdom’s state officials visits thus promoting the strong diplomatic relationship between the two countries as was recently done by president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama trip to London in May, 2011 (Peterson & Pollack, 2003: 39). The United Kingdom and the United States of America also share some common memberships in international organizations such as the British-American Project, British- American Tobacco, British–American Insurance, Group of Eight, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Chamber of Commerce, International Court of Justice, International Monetary Fund, Interpol, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, UKUSA Community, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, World Trade Organization and United Nations security council amongst other committees. The committees influence diplomatic relationship between the two countries and thus the countries will have to work as a team in order to be in a position of making positive solutions in international conventions when the delegates meet in the international forums (Bartlett, 1992: 140). The United Kingdom and the United States of America have also maintained close diplomatic relationship as a way of reducing the cases of cyber crimes and other related international crimes that were properly organized (Gamble, 2003: 45). The control body consists of five different countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United States of America and United Kingdom. These countries would use there criminal investigation officers in investigating deadly (cyber) crimes thus the union of intelligence results to countering the crime and arresting the criminals (Peterson & Pollack, 2003: 34). Entertainment is also considered to be the other reason that resulted to the close diplomatic ties between the United Kingdom and the United States of America, this is in the from of electronic and print media. The media and film industries in both the countries consider themselves to have customers from these countries (Dumbrell, 2006: 43). Films made in Hollywood have a large acceptance with the British audience the same also applies to British films like James Bond and Harry Potter which are largely appreciated by the Americans. It is also believed that the production of some films are often shared between these two nations, this is when the directors choose locations, actors and actresses from both countries. In conclusion, the cultural and ancestral relationship that is shared between the United Kingdom and the United States of America has made it difficult and impossible for these countries to go against each other. This has made these countries to be the most closely related countries in the entire world. The blood relationship that exists between the two countries has ensured that the two countries maintain a mutual respect that they have for one another and thus making it difficult for either country to go against each other’s path. The relationship that exist has been fostered by state officials making repeated visits in order to negotiate on issues like trade, security, tourism, foreign policies and investment. These talks result to improved trade and relations between the countries (Peterson & Pollack, 2003: 103). More importantly, the blood relationship shared between the two countries is deemed to be the major reason for the close ties. References Bartlett, C. 1992, The Special Relationship: A Political History of Anglo-American Relations since 1945. London: Longman. Burk, K. 2007, Old World, New World: The Story of Britain and America. London: Little, Brown. Dumbrell, J. 2006, A Special Relationship: Anglo-American Relations from the Cold War to Iraq, London: Palgrave. Gamble, A. 2003, Between Europe and America: The Future of British Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Hathaway, R. 1990, Great Britain and the United States: Special Relations since World War II. New York: Twayne. Peterson, J. & Pollack, M. 2003, Europe, America, and Bush: Transatlantic Relations in the Twenty-First Century. (London: Routledge. Read More