英米関係
英米関係（えいべいかんけい）では、イギリスとアメリカ合衆国の関係について述べる。
イギリスとアメリカの関係は多くの複雑な関係を包含し、古くは二度の戦争から世界市場を巡る競争まで、様々な場に及んでいる。1940年以降、両国は緊密な軍事同盟関係にあり、を享受しているが、これらは戦時同盟国及びNATOの同盟国として築かれたものである。
英米両国は歴史を共有し、宗教で重なり、共通の言語と法体系を持ち、そして、イングランド系アメリカ人、、、、及びの各々の間に先祖代々受け継がれてきた親族の血統を含めて、過去数百年を辿ることのできる血縁関係があることにより、互いに結びつけられている。今日では、互いの国に移住する人々が両国共に多くいる。
戦争や反乱、和平と仲違いの時代を通して、友好国や同盟国となるのは勿論の事、イギリスとアメリカは第二次世界大戦中に、これらの深く根付いた絆を固めた。これは特別な関係として知られており、2009年に英国人のニュース解説者によって「大西洋を越えた重要な同盟」(the key trans-Atlantic alliance) と表現され、も2010年に「世界中の安定性の礎の一つ」(one of the cornerstones of stability around the world) として認めている。
今日では、現在のイギリスの外交政策において、アメリカとの関係は「最も重要な二国間関係」(most important bilateral partnership) とされ、対するアメリカの外交政策でも、イギリスとの関係を最も重要な関係であると断言しており、貿易、商業、金融、科学技術、学術、芸術の分野における一連の政事と相互協力、さらに政府及び軍の諜報活動の共有、アメリカ軍とイギリス軍の間で実行される合同軍事作戦や平和維持活動等に裏付けられている。カナダは歴史的に米国産商品の最大の輸入相手国かつイギリスに対する最大の輸出相手国であったが、中国からの輸入が大幅に増加していることで、この状況は変わりつつある。とはいえ、アメリカ国勢調査局によれば、2015年1月時点で、イギリスは輸出の点では第5位、輸入の点では第7位の貿易相手国である。
英米両国を合わせると世界の貿易で非常に大きな割合を占め、他の多くの国々や地域の文化に重大な影響を及ぼす経済大国である。2015年時点で両国の人口を合わせると約3億8500万人となり、英語圏で最も大きな人口を抱える結節点である。共に、両国は現代世界の多くの分野において、英語に優勢な役割を与えている。
イギリスの独立領である英領ヴァージン諸島およびアンギラと合衆国領である米領ヴァージン諸島およびプエルトリコの間には、が存在する。
幾度かの試みが失敗に終わった後、イングランドにとって北アメリカ大陸本土における最初の永続的な植民地となったのは、英領バージニア植民地のジェームズタウンで、1607年のことであった。その後1624年までには、英領バージニア植民地はロンドンのバージニア会社により治められるではなくなり、となった。ピルグリムは、イングランドとアムステルダムを拠点とする小さなプロテスタント教派であったが、一派はメイフラワー号に入植者の集団を乗せ、北アメリカへと送った。この入植者らはメイフラワー誓約を作成し、それにより自らに広範な自治権を付与すると、1620年に小規模なプリマス植民地を設立した。1630年に清教徒らは、それよりもはるかに広いマサチューセッツ湾植民地を設立し、イングランド国教会を改革しようとして、新しくてより純粋な教会を新世界に創設した。
これらを追うように、（1622年）、メリーランド植民地（1632年）、ロードアイランド及びプロビデンス・プランテーション植民地（1636年）、コネチカット植民地（1636年）など、他にも植民地が設立された。その後、カロライナ植民地（1663年）が設立された（カロライナ植民地は、1729年にノースカロライナ植民地とサウスカロライナ植民地に分割された）。ニューハンプシャー植民地は1691年に設立された。そして1732年、最後にジョージア植民地が設立された。
ニューヨーク植民地は、イギリスがオランダのニューネーデルラント植民地を征服して形成された。1674年、ニュージャージー植民地がニューヨーク植民地から分割されて設置された。1681年、ウィリアム・ペンが国王チャールズ2世より勅許を受けて、ペンシルベニア植民地を創立した。
各植民地は、ロンドンに対してそれぞれ別々に直属した。1686年から1689年の間には、これらの植民地をという一つの王領に結集させる努力もなされたが、失敗に終わった。
17世紀中には、推定で約35万人のイングランド人とウェールズ人の移民が13植民地に到着し、永住住民として移り住んだ。そして、1707年の合同法の成立後の世紀には、スコットランド人やアイルランド人が、移民の割合と数の点で、先の移民らを上回った。
イギリス人入植者による植民地化の時代には、社会経済的な発展と正の関連を示す、自由主義的な行政、司法、市場の諸制度がアメリカに伝来した。それと同時期、植民地政策は半重商主義的でもあったため、帝国内部での交易を奨励し、他の列強との通商を妨害して植民地における製造の興隆を抑止した。これにより、母国の貿易と富を増大させて確固たる地位を築いた。このほか、イギリスがずっと大きな利益を生み出したのは、カリブ地域の商業植民地での砂糖の取引であった。
強制的な労働制度の伝来は、植民地時代のもう一つの特徴であった。13植民地の全てが奴隷貿易に巻き込まれた。との奴隷たちは、典型的に、家庭での召使いや職人、肉体労働者、熟練工として働いた。の奴隷たちは、早くから、主に農業に従事し、農場やプランテーションなどで、輸出用のインドアイ、米、綿花、タバコを栽培した。
1754年から1763年まで続いたフレンチ・インディアン戦争は、七年戦争の北アメリカにおける戦場であった。北アメリカでイギリスとフランスとが交戦した四度目のこうした植民地戦争は、フランス人キリスト教徒の住民らを含めて、イギリスがヌーベルフランスを獲得する結果となった。1763年に署名されたパリ条約の条項の一部にも記されたように、フランスはフランス領ルイジアナのうちミシシッピ川を境にした東側の支配権をイギリスに割譲した。この領地は後に、として知られるようになった。
イギリス本国と植民地の間の宗教的な結びつきは、著しいものであった。教会の大半はイングランド（またはドイツ）から移って来たものであった。ニューイングランドの清教徒は、イングランドの非国教徒らとは、滅多に連絡を取り合わなかった。それよりもずっと近い関係にあったのは、クエーカーにより維持された大西洋を越えた関係で、特にペンシルベニアで見られた。メソジスト教徒もまた、密接な関係を維持していた。
アングリカン教会が南部の植民地で正式に設立されると、地方税は牧師の給料のために支払われ、教区民が市民の義務として貧民救済などにあたり、そして、地元のお歴々が教区民を支配するようになった。教会はアメリカ独立戦争の間に国教扱いを中止された。アメリカのイギリス国教会教徒はロンドン主教により支配されていたが、アメリカにイギリス国教会の主教を立てるべきかどうかを巡っては、長い間論争があった。他方のプロテスタントは、いかなる人の（主教への）任命をも阻止した。革命（独立戦争）後、新たに創設された聖公会は、独自の主教を選出して、ロンドンから距離を置いた。
13植民地は次第により制限された自治を経験し始めた。加えて、イギリスの重商主義者の政策がより厳しくなったことで、イギリス本国に利益をもたらし、貿易を規制する結果となった。それにより、植民地経済の成長を制限し、植民地の商人たちの持つ稼ぐことへの潜在力を人為的に抑制した。フレンチ・インディアン戦争の間に徐々に増加した借金が発端となり、アメリカの植民地がその返済を助けるだろうと期待されていたが、国王ジョージ3世による統制および代表なき課税の問題を巡って、1765年から1775年にかけて、本国と植民地の緊迫した状態はエスカレートした。1770年、の軍人が民間人に向けて発砲、射殺したボストン虐殺事件に始まった大規模な反乱によって、激怒した植民地住民は（イギリスに対する）憎悪の心に駆られた。イギリス議会は早くには印紙法（1765年）、後には茶法（1773年）などを制定し、一連の税を課した。暴徒と化した植民地住民は、ボストン茶会事件で紅茶箱をボストン湾に投棄して、これらの税制に抗議した。イギリス議会は植民地住民の抵抗に反応し、植民地住民らが耐え難き諸法と呼んだ法案を1774年に承認した。この一連の出来事は、最終的にレキシントン・コンコードの戦い（1775年）の最初の砲火の引き金を引くことになり、実質的にアメリカ独立戦争そのものの開戦につながった。1775年6月、バンカーヒルの戦いでイギリスが辛くも勝利したことで、さらに緊張をかき立てることとなった。独立を達成するという目標がパトリオットとして知られた多数派により追い求められた一方、ロイヤリストとして知られた少数派は、いつまでもイギリス臣民のままでありたいと願ったのであった。しかしながら、1775年5月に第二次大陸会議がフィラデルフィアで開かれた際、ベンジャミン・フランクリン、トーマス・ジェファーソン、ジョン・ハンコック、サミュエル・アダムズ、ジョン・アダムズなどの著名な人物によって行われた審議は結局、母国からの完全なる独立を追い求めるという結論に至った。こうして、1776年7月4日、アメリカ独立宣言が満場一致で承認され、根本的かつ決定的に（イギリスと）決別した。アメリカは、近代において首尾よく独立を果たした世界で最初の植民地となった。
1775年の初めに、パトリオットは全てのイギリスの役人と軍人に、この新しい国から退去するよう強制した。といっても、彼らは1776年8月に大挙して自国に帰ったものの、ニューヨーク市を占拠し、独立戦争が最終的に決着する1783年までの間ずっと、彼らの根拠地とした。強力な海軍を有するイギリスは、これを用いて主要な港を占領することが出来たのだが、アメリカ人の90%は田園地帯に住み、当地は彼ら自身の完全な支配下にあった。1777年のサラトガ方面作戦で、パトリオットがカナダから移動して来たイギリスの侵略軍を捕虜にした後、フランスがアメリカの同盟国として参戦し、さらにフランスの同盟国としてオランダとスペインの支持を取り付けた。これに対してイギリスは、制海権の優位性を失い、大きな同盟国もなく、ヨーロッパにおいても支持を得られる味方がほとんどいなかった。当時のイギリスの戦略は、（アメリカの）南部地方に再び焦点を合わせ、そこに大勢いるロイヤリストに、イギリス軍と共に戦ってくれるようにすることであった。しかし、イギリスが必要とした人数に比べて、実際に武器を取って戦ったロイヤリストがはるかに少なかったことで、南部の田園地帯を支配下に置こうとする国王の努力は実現せず終わった。イギリス陸軍がニューヨークに戻ろうとした時には、同国の救援艦隊はフランス艦隊によって既に引き返されており、1781年10月のヨークタウンの包囲戦において、ジョージ・ワシントン将軍指揮下の米仏連合軍により同陸軍は捕虜となった。これが実質的に戦闘を終わらせることとなった。
1783年に新国家に対して比較的好条件でパリ条約が結ばれ、アメリカ独立戦争が終結した。
鍵となる出来事は1782年9月にあった。そのとき、フランスの外務大臣ヴェルジェンヌが一つの解決策を提案したが、同盟国アメリカの激しい反対に遭った。フランスはこの戦争で疲れ果てており、スペインがイギリスからジブラルタルを奪い取るまでは戦争の継続を要求したことを除けば、誰もが和平を望んでいた。ヴェルジェンヌは、ジブラルタルの代わりにスペインが受け入れそうな取引を思いついた。アメリカ合衆国は独立を獲得するつもりだったが、その範囲はアパラチア山脈の東側の地域に限定された。イギリスはオハイオ川以北の地域を取ろうとした。一方で、オハイオ川以南の地域では、スペインの支配下で、独立したインディアンの国家が興されようとしていた。いわゆる緩衝国、である。アメリカ人は、これらの交渉期間中、フランスとの友好関係が役に立たないものであることに気づいたことで、ロンドンから直接、より良い取引をすることができた。ジョン・ジェイは即座に、自身がフランスとスペインとの関係を絶って、イギリス人と直接交渉する意志があることをイギリス側に伝えた。イギリスの首相シェルバーン伯は、これに同意した。イギリスの交渉の全責任を負っていた首相は、アメリカ合衆国をフランスから分離して、この新しい国をイギリスにとって価値のある経済的パートナー国にするためには今が好機と見た。 西側の条件は、アメリカ合衆国がミシシッピ川の東、フロリダの北、カナダの南の全領域を得ようとするものであり、北の境界線は今日における境界とほとんど同じものとされた。 アメリカ合衆国は、カナダ沿岸沖での漁業権を得ようとし、イギリスの商人とロイヤリストらが自らの財産を取り戻そうとするのを許すことで合意した。この条約は、アメリカ合衆国にとって大変好都合なものであったが、イギリス側の視点から見れば、熟考を重ねて練られた計画的なものであった。イギリス首相のシェルバーン伯は、急速に成長しつつあったアメリカ合衆国とイギリスとの間で行われる、非常に収益性の高い双方向貿易を見越していて、また実際にそれが実現した。
条約は1784年にようやく承認された。イギリスは1783年後半にも軍人と一般市民をニューヨーク、チャールストン、サバンナへと疎開させた。50万人いたロイヤリストの80%超がアメリカ合衆国に留まり、アメリカ市民となった。残りのロイヤリストの大部分はカナダに移り、と呼ばれた。 商人や実務家は、しばしば渡英しては取引先との関係を再興した。 裕福な南部のロイヤリストは、自分たちの奴隷を同行させて、典型的に西インド諸島の大農園へと向かった。また、イギリス人は、元奴隷でイギリス軍と戦った約3000人の解放された黒人を連れ去ったが、彼らはノバスコシアに行った。多くの人々はそこが住むのに適さないと分かると、アフリカにあったイギリスの植民地であるシエラレオネに移った。
この新しい国家はミシシッピ川の東側とセントローレンス川および五大湖の南側のほぼ全土を支配下に治めた。イギリスの植民地であった東フロリダと西フロリダがその見返りとしてスペインに割譲された。イギリスと同盟を結んでいた北米先住民諸部族は、主要な敗北者であった。イギリスは講和会議で彼らを無視し、彼らがカナダかスペイン領に移動しない限り、その大部分をアメリカの支配下に置くことにしたのであった。イギリスはアメリカ中西部（特にミシガン州とウィスコンシン州）に要塞を保持したが、そこではインディアンの部族に武器を供与した。
Trade resumed between the two nations when the war ended. The British allowed all exports to America but forbade some American food exports to its colonies in the West Indies. British exports reached £3.7 million, compared to imports of only £750,000. The imbalance caused a shortage of gold in the US.
In 1785, John Adams became the first American plenipotentiary minister, now known as an ambassador, to the Court of St James's. King George III received him graciously. In 1791, Great Britain sent its first diplomatic envoy, George Hammond, to the United States.
When Great Britain and France went to war in 1793, relations between the United States and Great Britain also verged on war. Tensions were subdued when the Jay Treaty was signed in 1794, which established a decade of peace and prosperous trade relations. The historian Marshall Smelser argues that the treaty effectively postponed war with Britain, or at least postponed it until the United States was strong enough to handle it.
Bradford Perkins argued that the treaty was the first to establish a special relationship between Britain and the United States, with a second installment under Lord Salisbury. In his view, the treaty worked for ten years to secure peace between Britain and America: "The decade may be characterized as the period of "The First Rapprochement." As Perkins concludes, "For about ten years there was peace on the frontier, joint recognition of the value of commercial intercourse, and even, by comparison with both preceding and succeeding epochs, a muting of strife over ship seizures and impressment. Two controversies with France… pushed the English-speaking powers even more closely together." Starting at swords' point in 1794, the Jay treaty reversed the tensions, Perkins concludes: "Through a decade of world war and peace, successive governments on both sides of the Atlantic were able to bring about and preserve a cordiality which often approached genuine friendship."
Historian Joseph Ellis finds the terms of the treaty "one-sided in Britain's favor", but asserts a consensus of historians agrees that it was
"a shrewd bargain for the United States. It bet, in effect, on England rather than France as the hegemonic European power of the future, which proved prophetic. It recognized the massive dependence of the American economy on trade with England. In a sense it was a precocious preview of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), for it linked American security and economic development to the British fleet, which provided a protective shield of incalculable value throughout the nineteenth century. Mostly, it postponed war with England until America was economically and politically more capable of fighting one."
The US proclaimed its neutrality in the wars between Britain and France (1793–1815), and profited greatly by selling food, timber and other supplies to both sides.
Thomas Jefferson had bitterly opposed the Jay Treaty because he feared it would strengthen anti-republican political enemies. When Jefferson became president in 1801, he did not repudiate the treaty. He kept the Federalist minister, Rufus King in London to negotiate a successful resolution to outstanding issues regarding cash payments and boundaries. The amity broke down in 1805, as relations turned increasingly hostile as a prelude to the War of 1812. Jefferson rejected a renewal of the Jay Treaty in the Monroe–Pinkney Treaty of 1806 as negotiated by his diplomats and agreed to by London; he never sent it to the Senate.
The international slave trade was suppressed after Great Britain passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act in 1807, and the United States passed a similar law in the same year.
The United States imposed a trade embargo, namely the Embargo Act of 1807, in retaliation for Britain's blockade of France, which involved the visit and search of neutral merchantmen, and resulted in the suppression of Franco-United States trade for the duration of the Napoleonic Wars. The Royal Navy also boarded American ships and impressed sailors suspected of being British deserters. Western expansion into the American Midwest (Ohio to Wisconsin) was hindered by Indian tribes given munitions and support by British agents. Indeed, Britain's goal was the creation of an independent Indian state to block American expansion.
After diplomacy and the boycott had failed, the issue of national honour and independence came to the fore. Brands says, "The other war hawks spoke of the struggle with Britain as a second war of independence; [Andrew] Jackson, who still bore scars from the first war of independence held that view with special conviction. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity."
Finally in June 1812 President James Madison called for war, and overcame the opposition of Northeastern business interests. The American strategy called for a war against British shipping and especially cutting off food shipments to the British sugar plantations in the West Indies. Conquest of Canada was a tactic designed to give the Americans a strong bargaining position. The main British goal was to defeat France, so until that happened in 1814 the war was primarily defensive. To enlist allies among the Indians, led by Tecumseh, the British promised an independent Indian state would be created in American territory. Repeated American invasions of Canada were fiascoes, because of inadequate preparations, very poor generals, and the refusal of militia units to leave their home grounds. However the Americans took control of Lake Erie in 1813 and destroyed the power of the Indian allies of the British in the Northwest and Southeast. The British invasion of Chesapeake bay in 1814 culminated in the "Burning of Washington", but the subsequent British attack on Baltimore was repelled. The British invasion of New York state in 1814 was defeated at the Battle of Plattsbugh, and the invasion of Louisiana that launched before word of a ceasefire had reached General Andrew Jackson was decisively defeated at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Negotiations began in 1814 and produced the Treaty of Ghent, which restored the "status quo ante bellum". No territorial gains were made by either side, and the British plan to create an Indian nation was abandoned. The United Kingdom retained the theoretical right of impressment, but stopped impressing any sailors, while the United States dropped the issue for good. The US celebrated the outcome as a victorious "second war of independence." The British, having finally defeated Napoleon at Waterloo, celebrated that triumph and largely forgot the war with America. Tensions between the US and Canada were resolved through diplomacy. The War of 1812 marked the end of a long period of conflict (1775–1815) and ushered in a new era of peace between the two nations.
The Monroe Doctrine, a unilateral response in 1823 to a British suggestion of a joint declaration, expressed American hostility of further European encroachment in the Western hemisphere. Nevertheless, the United States benefited from the common outlook in British policy and its enforcement by the Royal Navy. In the 1840s several states defaulted on bonds owned by British investors. London bankers avoided state bonds afterwards, but invested heavily in American railroad bonds.
In several episodes the American general Winfield Scott proved a sagacious diplomat by tamping down emotions and reaching acceptable compromises. Scott handled the "Caroline" affair in 1837. Rebels from British North America (now Ontario) fled to New York and used a small American ship called the "Caroline" to smuggle supplies into Canada after their rebellion was suppressed. In late 1837, Canadian militia crossed the border into the US and burned the ship, leading to diplomatic protests, a flare-up of Anglophobia, and other incidents.
Tensions on the vague Maine–New Brunswick boundary involved rival teams of lumberjacks in the bloodless Aroostook War of 1839. There was no shooting but both sides tried to uphold national honor and gain a few more miles of timber land. Each side had an old secret map that apparently showed the other side had the better legal case, so compromise was easily reached in the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842, which settled the border in Maine and Minnesota. In 1859, the bloodless Pig War determined the question of where the border should be in relationship to the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands. But, the Clayton–Bulwer Treaty proved to be an important step in improving relations.
In 1844-48 the two nations had overlapping claims to Oregon. The area was largely unsettled making it easy to end the crisis in 1848 a by compromise that split the region evenly, with British Columbia to Great Britain, and Washington, Idaho, and Oregon to America. The US then turned its attention to Mexico, which threatened war over the annexation of Texas. Britain tried without success to moderate the Mexicans, but when the war began it remained neutral. The US gained California, in which the British had shown only passing interest.
In the American Civil War a major Confederate goal was to win recognition from Britain and France, which it expected would lead them to war with the US and enable the Confederacy to win independence. Because of the astute American diplomacy, no nation ever recognized the Confederacy and war with Britain was averted. Nevertheless, there was considerable British sentiment in favor of weakening the US by helping the South win. At the beginning of the war Britain issued . The Confederate States of America had assumed all along that Britain would surely enter the war to protect its vital supply of cotton. This "King Cotton" argument was one reason the Confederates felt confident in the first place about going to war, but the Southerners had never consulted the Europeans and were tardy in sending diplomats. Even before the fighting began in April 1861 Confederate citizens (acting without government authority) cut off cotton shipments in an effort to exert cotton diplomacy. It failed because Britain had warehouses filled with cotton, whose value was soaring; not until 1862 did shortages become acute.
The Trent Affair in late 1861 nearly caused a war. A warship of the U.S. Navy stopped the British civilian vessel "RMS Trent" and took off two Confederate diplomats, James Murray Mason and John Slidell. Britain prepared for war and demanded their immediate release. President Lincoln released the diplomats and the episode ended quietly.
Britain realized that any recognition of an independent Confederacy would be treated as an act of war against the United States. The British economy was heavily reliant on trade with the United States, most notably cheap grain imports which in the event of war, would be cut off by the Americans. Indeed, the Americans would launch all-out naval war against the entire British merchant fleet.
Despite outrage and intense American protests, London allowed the British-built "CSS Alabama" to leave port and become a commerce raider under the naval flag of the Confederacy. The war ended in 1865; arbitration settled the issue in 1871, with a payment of $15.5 million in gold for the damages caused.
In January 1863 Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which was strongly supported by liberal elements in Britain. However the British government predicted it would create a race war and that intervention might be required on humanitarian grounds. There was no race war, however, and the declining capabilities of the Confederacy—such as loss of major ports and rivers—made its likelihood of success smaller and smaller.
Relations were chilly during the 1860s as Americans resented British and Canadian roles during the Civil War. After the war American authorities looked the other way as Irish "Fenians" plotted and even attempted an invasion of Canada. The Fenians proved a failure but Irish American politicians, a growing power in the Democratic Party demanded more independence for Ireland and made anti-British rhetoric—called "twisting the lion's tail"—a staple of election campaign appeals to the Irish vote.
Britain persisted in its free trade policy even as its major rivals, the US and Germany, turned to high tariffs (as did Canada). American heavy industry grew faster than Britain, and by the 1890s was crowding British machinery and other products out of the world market. London, however, remained the world's financial center, even as much of its investment was directed toward American railways. The Americans remained far behind the British in international shipping and insurance.
The American "invasion" of the British home market demanded a response. Tariffs, although increasingly under consideration, were not imposed until the 1930s. Therefore, British businessmen were obliged to lose their market or else rethink and modernize their operations. The boot and shoe industry faced increasing imports of American footwear; Americans took over the market for shoe machinery. British companies realized they had to meet the competition so they re-examined their traditional methods of work, labor utilization, and industrial relations, and to rethink how to market footwear in terms of the demand for fashion.
The Venezuela Crisis of 1895 broke out when Britain and Venezuela disputed the boundary between the nation of Venezuela and British Guiana, a British colony. President Grover Cleveland and Secretary of State Richard Olney demanded international arbitration. The tribunal in 1899 awarded the bulk of the disputed territory to British Guiana. By standing with a Latin American nation against the encroachment of the British Empire, the US improved relations with the Latin Americans, and the cordial manner of the procedure improved diplomatic relations with Britain.
The Olney-Pauncefote Treaty of 1897 was a proposed treaty between the United States and Britain in 1897 that required arbitration of major disputes. Despite wide public and elite support, the treaty was rejected by the U.S. Senate, which was jealous of its prerogatives, and never went into effect.
Arbitration was used to settle the dispute over the boundary between Alaska and Canada, but the Canadians felt betrayed by the result. The Alaska Purchase of 1867 drew the boundary between Canada and Alaska in ambiguous fashion. With the gold rush into the Yukon in 1898, miners had to enter through Alaska and Canada wanted the boundary redrawn to obtain its own seaport. Canada rejected the American offer of a long-term lease on an American port. The issue went to arbitration and the Alaska boundary dispute was finally resolved by an arbitration in 1903. The decision favoured the US when the British judge sided with the three American judges against the two Canadian judges on the arbitration panel. Canadian public opinion was outraged that their interests were sacrificed by London for the benefit of British-American harmony.
The Great Rapprochement is a term that was used to specifically describe the convergence of social and political objectives between the United Kingdom and the United States from 1895 until World War I began in 1914. The large Irish Catholic element in the US provided a major base for demands for Irish independence, and occasioned anti-British rhetoric, especially at election time.
The most notable sign of improving relations during the Great Rapprochement was Britain's actions during the Spanish–American War. With the onslaught of war beginning in 1898, the British had an initial policy of supporting the Spanish Empire and its colonial rule over Cuba since the perceived threat of American occupation and a territorial acquisition of Cuba by the United States might harm British trade and commerce interests within its own imperial possessions in the West Indies. However, after the United States made genuine assurances that it would grant Cuba's independence (which eventually occurred in 1902 under the terms dictated in the Platt Amendment), the British abandoned this policy and ultimately sided with the United States unlike most other European powers who supported Spain. In return the US government supported Britain during the Boer War, although many Americans favored the Boers.
Victory in the Spanish–American War had given the United States its own rising empire. This new status was demonstrated during 1900–01, when the US and Britain, as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance, suppressed the Boxer Rebellion and maintain foreign Concessions (colonies) in Qing Dynasty China.
In 1907–09, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the "Great White Fleet" on an international tour, to demonstrate the power projection of the United States' blue-water navy, which had become second only to the Royal Navy in size and firepower.
The United States had a policy of strict neutrality. The United States was willing to export any product to any country. Germany could not import anything due to the British blockade, so the American trade was with the Allies. It was financed by the sale of American bonds and stocks owned by the British. When that was exhausted the British borrowed heavily from New York banks. When that credit ran dry in late 1916, a financial crisis was at hand for Britain.
American public opinion moved steadily against Germany, especially in the wake of the Belgian atrocities in 1914 and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915. The large German American and Irish Catholic element called for staying out of the war, but the German Americans were increasingly marginalized. The Germans renewed unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 knowing it would lead to war with the US. Germany's invitation to Mexico to join together in war against the US in the Zimmermann Telegram was the last straw, and the US declared war in April 1917. The Americans planned to send money, food and munitions, but it soon became clear that millions of soldiers would be needed to decide the war on the Western Front.
The US sent two million soldiers to Europe under the command of General John J. Pershing, with more on the way as the war ended. Many of the Allied forces were skeptical of the competence of the American Expeditionary Force, which in 1917 was severely lacking in training and experience. By summer 1918, the American doughboys were arriving at 10,000 a day, as the German forces were shrinking because they had run out of manpower.
Although Woodrow Wilson had wanted to wage war for the sake of humanity, the negotiations over the Treaty of Versailles underlined in his Fourteen Points for Peace made it plainly clear that his diplomatic position had weakened with victory. The borders of Europe were redrawn on the basis of national self-determination, with the exception of Germany under the newly formed Weimar Republic. Financial reparations were imposed on the Germans, despite British reservations and American protests, largely because of France's desire for punitive peace and, in what many at the time deemed revenge, for previous conflicts with Germany in the 19th century.
By 1921 a cardinal principle of British foreign-policy was to “cultivate the closest relations with the United States.” As a result, Britain decided not to renew its military alliance with Japan, which was becoming a major rival to the United States in the Pacific.
The US sponsored a successful Washington Naval Conference in 1922 that largely ended the naval arms race for a decade. World War I marked the end of the Royal Navy's superiority, an eclipse acknowledged in the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, when the United States and Britain agreed to equal tonnage quotas on warships. By 1932, the 1922 treaty was not renewed and Britain, Japan and the US were again in a naval race.
In the 1920s, bilateral relations were generally friendly. In 1923 London renegotiated its ₤978 million war debt to the U.S. Treasury by promising regular payments of ₤34 million for ten years then ₤40 million pounds for 52 years. The idea was for the US to loan money to Germany, which in turn paid reparations to Britain, which in turn paid off its loans from the US government. In 1931 all German payments ended, and in 1932 Britain suspended its payments to the US. The debt was finally repaid after 1945.
The US refused to join the League of Nations, but its absence made little difference to British policy. While the United States participated in functional bodies of the League —to the satisfaction of Britain— it was a delicate issue linking the US to the League in public. Thus, major conferences, especially the Washington Conference of 1922 occurred outside League auspices. The US refused to send official delegates to League committees, instead sending unofficial "observers."
During the Great Depression, the United States was preoccupied with its own internal affairs and economic recovery, espousing an isolationist policy. When the US raised tariffs in 1930, the British retaliated by raising their tariffs against outside countries (such as the US) while giving special trade preferences inside the Commonwealth. The US demanded these special trade preferences be ended in 1946 in exchange for a large loan.
The overall world total of all trade plunged by over two-thirds, while trade between the US and Britain shrank from $848 million in 1929 to $288 million in 1932, a decline of almost two-thirds (66%).
When Britain in 1933 called a worldwide London Economic Conference to help resolve the depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt killed it by refusing to cooperate.
Tensions over the Irish question faded with the independence of the Irish Free State in 1922. The American Irish had achieved their goal, and in 1938 its leader Joseph P. Kennedy became ambassador to the Court of St. James's. He moved in high London society and his daughter married into the aristocracy. Kennedy supported the Neville Chamberlain policy of appeasement toward Germany, and when the war began he advised Washington that prospects for Britain's survival were bleak. When Winston Churchill came to power in 1940, Kennedy lost all his influence in London and Washington.
Though much of the American people were sympathetic to Britain during the war with Nazi Germany, there was widespread opposition to possible American intervention in European affairs. This was put into law in a series of Neutrality Acts which were ratified by the United States Congress in 1935, 1936, and 1937 respectively. However, President Roosevelt's policy of cash-and-carry still allowed Britain and France to order munitions from the United States and carry them home.
Churchill, who had long warned against Germany and demanded rearmament, became prime minister after Chamberlain's policy of appeasement had totally collapsed and Britain was unable to reverse the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. After the fall of France in June 1940, Roosevelt gave Britain and (after June 1941) the Soviet Union all aid short of war. The Destroyers for Bases Agreement which was signed in September 1940, gave the United States a ninety-nine-year rent-free lease of numerous land and air bases throughout the British Empire in exchange for the Royal Navy receiving fifty old destroyers from the United States Navy. Beginning in March 1941, the United States enacted Lend-Lease in the form of tanks, fighter airplanes, munitions, bullets, food, and medical supplies. Britain received $31.4 billion out of a total of $50.1 billion sent to the Allies.
In December 1941 at the important Arcadia Conference in Washington, top British and American leaders agreed on strategy. They set up the Combined Chiefs of Staff to plot and coordinate strategy and operations. Military cooperation was close and successful.
Technical collaboration was even closer, as the two nations shared secrets and weapons regarding the proximity fuze and radar, as well as airplane engines, Nazi codes, and the atomic bomb.
Millions of American servicemen were based in Britain during the war. Americans were paid five times more than comparable British servicemen, which led to a certain amount of friction with British men and intermarriage with British women.
In 1945 Britain sent a portion of the British fleet to assist the American invasion of Japan in October, which was cancelled when Japan surrendered in August.
Serious tension erupted over American demands that India be given independence, a proposition Churchill vehemently rejected. For years Roosevelt had encouraged Britain's disengagement from India. The American position was based on principled opposition to colonialism, practical concern for the outcome of the war, and the expectation of a large American role in a post-colonial era. However, in 1942 when the Congress Party launched a Quit India movement, the British authorities immediately arrested tens of thousands of activists (including Gandhi). Meanwhile, India became the main American staging base for aid to China. Churchill threatened to resign if Roosevelt pushed too hard, so Roosevelt backed down.
In the aftermath of the war Britain faced a financial crisis whereas the United States was in the midst of an economic boom. The process of de-colonization accelerated with the independence Britain granted to India, Pakistan and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1947. The Labour government, which was alarmed at the threat of Communism in the Balkans, implored the US to take over the British role in Greece, which led to the Truman Doctrine in 1947, with financial and military aid to Greece and Turkey as Britain withdrew from the region.
The US provided financial aid in the Anglo-American loan of 1946, granting a 50-year loan with a low 2% interest rate starting in 1950. A more permanent solution was the Marshall Plan of 1948–51, which poured $13 billion into western Europe, of which $3.3 billion went to Britain to help modernize its infrastructure and business practices. The aid was a gift and carried requirements that Britain balance its budget, control tariffs and maintain adequate currency reserves.
The need to form a united front against the Soviet threat compelled the US and Britain to cooperate in helping to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with their European allies. NATO is a mutual defense alliance whereby an attack on one member country is deemed an attack on all members.
The United States had an anti-colonial and anti-communist stance in its foreign policy throughout the Cold War. Military forces from the United States and the United Kingdom were heavily involved in the Korean War, fighting under a United Nations mandate. A withdrawal of military forces occurred when a stalemate was implemented in 1953. When the Suez Crisis erupted in October 1956, the United States feared a wider war after the Soviet Union and the other Warsaw Pact nations threatened to intervene on the Egyptian side. Thus the United States, with support from several European countries, applied sustained econo-financial pressure, to encourage and ultimately force the United Kingdom and France end their invasion of Egypt. British post-war debt was at such an extent that economic sanctions could have meant a devaluing of the currency. This was something the UK government intended to avoid at all costs and when it became clear that the international sanctions were serious, the British and their French allies withdrew their forces back to pre-war positions. The following year saw the resignation of Sir Anthony Eden.
Dwight D. Eisenhower's victory in the American presidential election in 1952 might have been expected to guarantee a continuance of good United States-United Kingdom relations, if not a period of even closer collaboration. However, Anglo-American cooperation during Eisenhower's presidency was troubled, approaching in 1956 a complete breakdown that represented the lowest point in the relations between the two countries since the 1920s. During the years of 1953–1961 the friendship between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Winston Churchill restored the levels of cordiality that had been a feature of the wartime partnership.
Through the US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement signed in 1958, the United States assisted the United Kingdom in their own development of a nuclear arsenal. In April 1963, John F. Kennedy and Harold Macmillan signed the Polaris Sales Agreement to the effect of the United States agreeing to supply the UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missile to the United Kingdom and for use in the Royal Navy's submarine fleet starting in 1968.
The United States gradually became involved in the Vietnam War in the early 1960s, but received no support this time from the United Kingdom. Anti-Americanism due to the Vietnam War and a lack of American support for France and the United Kingdom over the Suez Crisis weighed heavily on the minds of many in Europe. This sentiment extended in the United Kingdom by Harold Wilson's refusal to send British troops to Indochina.
Edward Heath and Richard Nixon maintained a close relationship throughout their terms in office. Heath deviated from his predecessors by supporting Nixon’s decision to bomb Hanoi and Haiphong in Vietnam in April 1972. Despite this personal affection, Anglo-American relations deteriorated noticeably during the early 1970s. Throughout his premiership, Heath insisted on using the phrase “natural relationship” instead of “special relationship” to refer to Anglo-American relations, acknowledging the historical and cultural similarities but carefully denying anything special beyond that. Heath was determined to restore a measure of equality to Anglo-American relations that had been increasingly characterized by American dominance as the power and economy of the United Kingdom flagged in the post-colonial era.
Heath's renewed push for British admittance to the European Economic Community (EEC) brought new tensions between the United Kingdom and the United States. French President Charles De Gaulle, who believed that British entry would allow undue American influence on the organization, vetoed previous British attempts at entrance. Heath’s final bid benefitted from the more moderate views of Georges Pompidou, De Gaulle’s successor as President of France, and his own Eurocentric foreign policy schedule. The Nixon administration viewed this bid as a pivot away from close ties with the United States in favor of continental Europe. After Britain's successful admittance to the EEC in 1973, Heath confirmed this interpretation by notifying his American counterparts that the United Kingdom would henceforth be formulating European policies with other EEC members before discussing them with the United States. Furthermore, Heath indicated his potential willingness to consider a nuclear partnership with France and questioned what the United Kingdom got in return for American use of British military and intelligence facilities worldwide. In return, Nixon and his Secretary of State Henry Kissinger briefly cut off the Anglo-American intelligence tap in August 1973. Kissinger then attempted to restore American influence in Europe with his abortive 1973 “Year of Europe” policy plan to update the NATO agreements. Members of the Heath administration, including Heath himself in later years, regarded this announcement with derision.
In 1973, American and British officials disagreed in their handling of the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War. While the Nixon administration immediately increased military aid to Israel, Heath maintained British neutrality on the conflict and imposed an October 1973 British arms embargo on all combatants, which mostly hindered the Israelis by preventing them obtaining spares for their Centurion tanks. Anglo-American disagreement intensified over Nixon’s unilateral decision to elevate American forces, stationed at British bases, to DEFCON 3 on October 25 in response to the breakdown of the United Nations ceasefire. Heath disallowed American intelligence gathering, resupplying, or refueling from British bases in Cyprus, which greatly limited the effective range of American reconnaissance planes. In return, Kissinger imposed a second intelligence cutoff over this disagreement and some in the administration even suggested that the United States should refuse to assist in the British missile upgrade to the Polaris system. Tensions between the United States and United Kingdom relaxed as the second ceasefire took effect. Wilson's defeat of Heath and return to power in 1974 helped to return Anglo-American relations to normalcy.
On July 23, 1977, officials from the United Kingdom and the United States renegotiated the previous Bermuda I Agreement, thus signing the Bermuda II Agreement to the effect of only four combined airlines, two from the United Kingdom and two from the United States, being allowed to operate flights from London Heathrow Airport and specified "gateway cities" in the United States. The Bermuda II Agreement was in effect for nearly 30 years until it was eventually replaced by the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, which was signed on April 30, 2007 and entering into effect on March 30, 2008.
Throughout the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher was strongly supportive of Ronald Reagan's unwavering stance towards the Soviet Union. Often described as 'political soulmates' and a high point in the "Special Relationship", both President Reagan and Prime Minister Thatcher met on numerous occasions throughout their political careers, speaking in concert when confronting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev.
In 1982, the British Government made a request to the United States, which the Americans agreed upon in principle, to sell the Trident II D5 ballistic missile, associated equipment, and related system support for use on four "Vanguard class" nuclear submarines in the Royal Navy. The Trident II D5 ballistic missile replaced the United Kingdom's previous use of the UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missile, beginning in the mid-1990s.
In the Falklands War, the United States initially tried to mediate between the United Kingdom and Argentina in 1982, but ultimately ended up supporting the United Kingdom's counter-invasion. The United States Defense Department under Caspar Weinberger, supplied the British military with equipment as well as logistical support.
In October 1983, the United States and a coalition of Caribbean nations undertook Operation Urgent Fury, codename for the invasion of the Commonwealth island nation of Grenada. A bloody Marxist-coup had overrun Grenada and neighboring countries in the region asked the United States to intervene militarily, which it did successfully despite having made assurances to a deeply resentful British Government.
On April 15, 1986, the United States Air Force with elements of naval and marine forces launched Operation El Dorado Canyon from RAF Fairford, RAF Upper Heyford, RAF Lakenheath, and RAF Mildenhall. Despite firm opposition from within the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher nevertheless gave Ronald Reagan permission to use Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom during the bombings of Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya, a counter-attack by the United States in response to Muammar Gaddafi's exportation of state-sponsored terrorism directed towards civilians and American servicemen stationed in West Berlin.
On December 21, 1988, Pan American Worldways' Flight 103 from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 169 Americans and 40 Britons on board. The motive that is generally attributed to the country of Libya can be traced back to a series of military confrontations with the United States Navy that took place in the 1980s in the Gulf of Sidra, the whole of which Libya claimed as its territorial waters. Despite a guilty verdict announced on January 31, 2001 by the Scottish High Court of Justiciary which ruled against Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the alleged bomber on charges of murder and the conspiracy to commit murder, Libya had never formally admitted carrying out the 1988 bombing over Scotland until 2003.
During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the United States and the United Kingdom throughout the 1980s provided arms to the Mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan until the last troops from the Soviet Union left Afghanistan on February 15, 1989.
When the United States became the world's lone superpower after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, new threats emerged which confronted the United States and its NATO allies. With military build-up beginning in August 1990 and the use of force beginning in January 1991, the United States, followed at a distance by Britain, provided the two largest forces respectively for the coalition army which liberated Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's regime during the Persian Gulf War.
In 1997, the British Labour Party was elected to office for the first time in eighteen years. The new prime minister, Tony Blair, and Bill Clinton both used the expression "Third Way" to describe their centre-left ideologies. In August 1997, the American people expressed solidarity with the British people, sharing in their grief and sense of shock on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who perished in a car crash in Paris, France.
Throughout 1998 and 1999, the United States and Britain sent troops to impose peace during the Kosovo War.
67 Britons were among the 2,977 victims killed during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and in an open field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001, which were orchestrated by Al-Qaeda. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, there was an enormous outpouring of sympathy from the United Kingdom for the American people, and Tony Blair was one of George W. Bush's strongest international supporters for bringing al-Qaeda and the Taliban to justice. Indeed, Blair became the most articulate spokesman. He was the only foreign leader to attend an emergency joint session of Congress called immediately after the attacks (and remains the only foreign leader ever to attend such a session), where he received two standing ovations from members of Congress.
The United States declared a War on Terror following the attacks. British forces participated in NATO's war in Afghanistan. Blair took the lead (against the opposition of France, Canada, Germany, China, and Russia) in advocating the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Again Britain was second only to the US in sending forces to Iraq. Both sides wound down after 2009, and withdrew their last troops in 2011. President Bush and Prime Minister Blair provided sustained mutual political and diplomatic support and won votes in Congress and parliament against their critics at home.
The July 7, 2005 London bombings emphasized the difference in the nature of the terrorist threat to both nations. The United States concentrated primarily on global enemies, like the al-Qaeda network and other Islamic extremists from the Middle East. The London bombings were carried out by homegrown extremist Muslims, and it emphasized the United Kingdom's threat from the radicalization of its own people.
By 2007, support amongst the British public for the Iraq war had plummeted. Despite Tony Blair's historically low approval ratings with the British people, mainly due to allegations of faulty government intelligence of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction, his unapologetic and unwavering stance for the British alliance with the United States can be summed up in his own words. He said, "We should remain the closest ally of the US ... not because they are powerful, but because we share their values." The alliance between George W. Bush and Tony Blair seriously damaged the prime minister's standing in the eyes of many British citizens. Tony Blair argued it is in the United Kingdom's interest to "protect and strengthen the bond" with the United States regardless of who is in the White House. However, a perception of one-sided compromising personal and political closeness led to serious discussion of the term "Poodle-ism" in the British media, to describe the "Special Relationship" of the British Government and Prime Minister with the White House and President.
All British servicemen were withdrawn with the exception of 400 who remained in Iraq until July 31, 2009.
On June 11, 2009, the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda accepted four Chinese Uighurs from the United States' detainment facility known as Guantanamo Bay detention camp located on the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. At the request of the United States Government, Bermudan officials agreed to host Khaleel Mamut, Hozaifa Parhat, Salahidin Abdulahat, and Abdullah Abdulqadirakhun as guest workers in Bermuda who seven years ago, were all captured by Pakistani bounty hunters during the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. This decision agreed upon by American and Bermudan officials drew considerable consternation and contempt by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as it was viewed by British officials in London that they should have been consulted on whether or not the decision to take in four Chinese Uighurs was a security and foreign issue of which the Bermudian government does not have delegated responsibility over.
On August 20, 2009, The Scottish government headed by Alex Salmond announced that it would release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on medical grounds. He was the only person convicted of the terrorist plot which killed 169 Americans and 40 Britons on Pan American Worldways' Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2001, but was released after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, with around three months to live. Americans said the decision was uncompassionate and insensitive to the memory of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. President Barack Obama said that the decision was "highly objectionable." However, Louis Susman, the United States Ambassador said that although the decision made by Scotland to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was seen by the United States as extremely regrettable, relations with the United Kingdom would remain fully intact and strong. The British government led by Gordon Brown was not involved in the release and Gordon Brown stated at a press conference that they had played 'no role' in the decision. Abdelbaset al-Megrahi died May 20, 2012 at the age of 60.
In April 2010, the explosion, sinking and resultant oil spill from the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig led to diplomatic friction and populist anti-British sentiment, even though the rig was owned and operated by the Swiss company Transocean and the cement work carried out by the US company Halliburton . Commentators referred to "British Petroleum" even though the company had been known as "BP" since 1998. UK politicians expressed concerns about anti-British rhetoric in the US. BP's CEO Tony Hayward was called "the most hated man in America". Conversely, the widespread public demonisation of BP and the effects on the company and its image, coupled with Obama's statements with regard to BP caused a degree of anti-American sentiment in the UK. This was particularly evidenced by the comments of the Business Secretary Vince Cable, who said that "It's clear that some of the rhetoric in the US is extreme and unhelpful", for reasons of British pension funds, loss of revenues for the exchequer and the adverse effect such the rhetoric was having on the share price of one of the UK's largest companies.
The meeting between Barack Obama and David Cameron in July somewhat helped strained diplomatic relations, and President Obama stated that there lies a "truly special relations" between the two countries. The degree to which anti-British or anti-American hostilities continue to exist, remains to be seen.
Present British policy is that the relationship with the United States represents the United Kingdom's "most important bilateral relationship" in the world. United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton paid tribute to the relationship in February 2009 by saying, "it stands the test of time".
On March 3, 2009, Gordon Brown made his first visit to the Obama White House. During his visit, he presented the president a gift in the form of a pen holder carved from HMS "Gannet", which served anti-slavery missions off the coast of Africa. Barack Obama’s gift to the prime minister was a box of 25 DVDs with movies including "Star Wars" and "E.T." The wife of the prime minister, Sarah Brown, gave the Obama daughters, Sasha and Malia, two dresses from British clothing retailer Topshop, and a few unpublished books that have not reached the United States. Michelle Obama gave the prime minister's sons two Marine One helicopter toys. During this visit to the United States, Gordon Brown made an address to a joint session of the United States Congress, a privilege rarely accorded to foreign heads of government.
In March 2009, a Gallup poll of Americans showed 36% identified Britain as their country's "most valuable ally", followed by Canada, Japan, Israel, and Germany rounding out the top five. The poll also indicated that 89% of Americans view the United Kingdom favorably, second only to Canada with 90%. According to the Pew Research Center, a global survey conducted in July 2009 revealed that 70% of Britons who responded had a favorable view of the United States.
In February 2011, "The Daily Telegraph", based on evidence from Wikileaks, reported that the United States had tendered sensitive information about the British Trident nuclear arsenal (whose missile delivery systems are manufactured and maintained in the United States) to the Russian Federation as part of a deal to encourage Russia to ratify the New START Treaty. Professor Malcolm Chalmers of the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies speculated that serial numbers could undermine Britain's non-verification policy by providing Russia "with another data point to gauge the size of the British arsenal".
On May 25, 2011, during his official visit to the UK, President Barack Obama reaffirmed the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States of America in an address to Parliament at Westminster Hall. Amongst other points, Obama stated: "I've come here today to reaffirm one of the oldest; one of the strongest alliances the World has ever known. It's long been said that the United States and The United Kingdom share a special relationship."
In the final days before the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, President Barack Obama announced in public the vested interest of the United States of America in enjoying the continued partnership with a 'strong and united' UK which he described as "one of the closest allies we will ever have."
アメリカはイギリスにとって最大の単一の輸出市場であり、2007年には570億ドル相当の英国製品が輸出・販売された。同年の両国間の輸出入総量は合計1072億ドルに上った。
アメリカとイギリスは世界最大の対外直接投資パートナーシップを共有している。2005年には、イギリスにおけるアメリカの直接投資は、合計で3240億ドルに上った一方、アメリカにおけるイギリスの直接投資は合計2820億ドルを計上した。
毎年450万人以上のイギリス人がアメリカを訪れ、約140億USドルの経済効果を生む。一方で、毎年およそ300万人のアメリカ人がイギリスを訪れて、約100億USドルの経済効果を生じている。
ニューヨークのジョン・F・ケネディ国際空港はロンドン・ヒースロー空港を出発する国際線利用客の最大の目的地となっている。2008年には、約2,802,870人が多様な直行定期便を利用してヒースロー空港からJFK空港へ渡航した。ブリティッシュ・エアウェイズのフラグシップ超音速旅客機のコンコルドは大西洋を横断する定期路線として、1976年5月24日、ワシントン・ダレス国際空港に就航した。アメリカの連邦最高裁がニューヨーク市上空でのソニックブームを規制していた下級裁判所の決定を1977年10月17日に棄却したことにより、ヒースロー空港とJFK国際空港の間の従来の大西洋横断路線は3時間半以内で結ばれるようになった。この判決に基づく運航は1977年10月19日から2003年10月23日まで続いた。
イギリス・アメリカ・パナマ系の親会社カーニバル・コーポレーション傘下のイギリスの海運会社キュナード・ラインは、クイーン・メリー2とクイーン・ヴィクトリアをサウサンプトンとニューヨークの間で季節運航している。
また、アメリカとイギリスの両国では道路標識にヤード・ポンド法が継続して利用されている。
過去数十年間に、のべ2人のイギリスの君主と3人のアメリカ合衆国大統領が相互に儀礼的、公的な訪問を行っている。女王エリザベス2世はその生涯を通して、これまでに11人の大統領（トルーマン、アイゼンハワー、ケネディ、ニクソン、フォード、カーター、レーガン、ブッシュ・シニア、クリントン、ブッシュ・ジュニア、オバマ) と面会した。唯一の例外はリンドン・B・ジョンソンである。このほか、元大統領のハーバート・フーヴァー (任期: 1929年–1933年) と1957年に面会している。これらに加えて、エリザベス2世は、1984年、1985年、1991年の三回にわたり、ケンタッキー州にある種牡馬繋養牧場と種馬飼育場を私的訪問している。
"Strategic Alliance Cyber Crime Working Group" (戦略的提携サイバー犯罪ワーキンググループ) は、アメリカを筆頭として、オーストラリア、カナダ、ニュージーランド、イギリスが主導するもので、全地球規模の犯罪事案、特に組織犯罪を専門に取り組むこれらの国家間の公式なパートナーシップ協定である。この協同体は、3大陸からの5か国が団結して情報を共有し、ツールおよび最善の対処法を交換することによる相乗効果でサイバー犯罪と対峙しつつ、各国の法規を強化し、一致させる、というものである。
このイニシアティブの中では、イギリスの重大組織犯罪局とアメリカの連邦捜査局の間で、重大な詐欺またはサイバー犯罪に関わる情報をより多く共有する。
イギリスとアメリカ間の安全保障協定であるUKUSA協定は、オーストラリア、カナダ、ニュージーランド、イギリス、アメリカの5つの英語圏の国が提携して、諜報の共有を唯一の目的とする。この協定は1943年に署名された歴史的なBRUSA協定を発展させたものである。エシュロン・システムと連動して、これらの5か国はそれぞれ世界の異なる地域で諜報収集および分析を行う。例えば、イギリスはヨーロッパ、アフリカ、ウラル山脈以西のロシアを、アメリカは中南米、アジア、ロシアのアジア地域および中国本土北部を対象に諜報活動を実施している。
アメリカはイギリスとの間に脈々と受け継がれてきた多くの文化的遺産を共有する。
英語は共にイギリス人とアメリカ人の言語であるため、両国は英語圏に属する。しかしながらこの共通の言語は綴り、発音、語義について、両国の間でを伴う。
アメリカの法制度は、その大部分をイングランドのコモン・ローに基礎を置いている。郡裁判所や郡保安官事務所など、アメリカの地方および政府の制度はイングランドでの慣例を起源とする。一方で、イギリスとは異なる一面をもつアメリカとしては、高い信仰心を示すことにもあり、バプテスト、メソジスト、会衆派、米国聖公会のようなプロテスタント系の教派がイギリスの教会から派生し、大西洋を渡ってアメリカで布教された。
イギリスとアメリカは、一般的にの名で言及される、規制および税率を低い水準に置く代わりに、政府が下位から中位の水準の社会的サービスを提供する、というシステムを実践している。
7月4日の独立記念日は、1776年7月4日に行われたイギリス帝国からの独立宣言の採択を記念する国家的祝事である。アメリカのイギリスに対する挑戦的態度は、米英戦争中のボルティモアの戦いに際して作詞されたアメリカ合衆国の国歌『星条旗』にも表れている。
40,234,652人から72,065,000人のアメリカ人はイギリス系の血を引いていると推定され、これはアメリカの全人口の13%から23.3%を占めていることになる。によると、61,311,449人のアメリカ人がイギリス系の先祖を持つと報告し、当時の全米人口の32.56%に達した。今もなお、アメリカ国内で最も大きな先祖のグループを形成しているものとみられる。
アメリカにおけるウィリアム・シェイクスピア、チャールズ・ディケンズ、J・R・R・トールキン、、J・K・ローリング等のイギリスの作家たちや、イギリスにおけるハリエット・ビーチャー・ストウ、マーク・トウェイン、アーネスト・ヘミングウェイ、スティーヴン・キング、ダン・ブラウン等のアメリカの作家たちの人気に裏付けられるように、文学は大西洋を越えた。ヘンリー・ジェイムズやT・S・エリオットは、イギリスへ移り住んだことにより、双方の国でよく知られている。エリオットは1914年にイングランドに移住し、1927年にはイギリス国籍を取得した。有力な文芸評論家であったエリオットは、イギリス文学の現代詩に大きな影響を与えた。
イギリスで毎週日曜日に発行されるブランケット判の新聞オブザーバーはニューヨーク・タイムズの縮刷版を掲載する。
現代のアメリカとイギリスの娯楽文化は多くのクロスオーバーを織り成している。例えば、スティーヴン・スピルバーグとジョージ・ルーカスの製作したアメリカのハリウッド映画はイギリスの人々に大きな影響を与え、逆にイギリスの映画『007』シリーズ、映画『ハリー・ポッター』シリーズはアメリカでも大きな人気を博している。また、ウォルト・ディズニーのアニメーション映画は不朽の名作として100年近くにわたり老若男女を問わずイギリスの観衆を感動させている。アルフレッド・ヒッチコックの製作によるサスペンス映画はアメリカにも忠実なファンをもち、アルフレッド・ヒッチコック自身もジョン・カーペンターなどの著名なアメリカの映画製作者に影響を与えている。
イギリス出身やアメリカ出身の俳優・女優を中心に起用したり、ロンドンやハリウッドにある映画スタジオを使用するなどして、英米が共同で製作した映画作品も少なくない。
ニューヨークのブロードウェイを拠点とする劇場はこれまでに幾度も訪英し、ロンドンのウェスト・エンドなどでイギリス公演ツアーを実施している。これらの代表的な上演作品には『ライオン・キング』、『グリース』、『ウィケッド』、『レント』がある。イギリスで制作された作品では、『マンマ・ミーア!』やアンドルー・ロイド・ウェバーの『ヨセフ・アンド・ザ・アメージング・テクニカラー・ドリームコート』、『キャッツ』、『オペラ座の怪人』などの複数のミュージカル作品がブロードウェイでも上演され、成功を収めた。イングランドの劇作家ウィリアム・シェイクスピアによる喜劇、史劇、悲劇の作品もアメリカの劇壇で圧倒的な人気を誇る。
イギリスとアメリカの双方のテレビ番組は類似しており、相手国の放送網を通して直接放送されたり、放映権を得た国内のメディアが相手国の番組を自国向けに再編集して放送されたりしている。アメリカ国内市場向けに再構成された近年のイギリスの人気テレビ番組は、『"The Office"』、『フー・ウォンツ・トゥ・ビー・ア・ミリオネア』（日本版はクイズ$ミリオネアの番組名で知られる）、『"Strictly Come Dancing"』(ダンシング・ウィズ・ザ・スターズ) 、『トップ・ギア』、『ポップアイドル』(アメリカン・アイドル) 、『Xファクター』である。一方、イギリス国内市場向けに再構成された近年のアメリカの人気テレビ番組は、『ジ・アプレンティス』、『"Deal or No Deal"』である。現在イギリスでも人気を博しているアメリカの人気テレビ番組は『ザ・シンプソンズ』、『モダン・ファミリー』、『サウスパーク』、『スクラブス』、『ファミリー・ガイ』、『フレンズ』、『』シリーズである。
BBCはアメリカ国内でBBCアメリカとBBCワールドの2つのネットワークを運用している。アメリカの放送網PBSはBBCと共同して『空飛ぶモンティ・パイソン』、『"Keeping Up Appearances"』、『ドクター・フー』、『"Nova"』、『"Masterpiece"』等のイギリスのテレビ番組をアメリカ国内向けに再放送している。BBCもよくアメリカの放送網HBOと共同し、『ローマ』、『"John Adams"』、『バンド・オブ・ブラザース』、『"The Gathering Storm"』等、近年のアメリカのミニ番組をイギリス国内で再放送している。さらに、アメリカのディスカバリーチャンネルはBBC等との共同制作番組として『プラネットアース』と『"The Blue Planet"』（アメリカでは後に"The Blue Planet: Seas of Life" の表題で知られる）をアメリカ国内で放送した。アメリカの政治専門チャンネルC-SPANは毎週日曜日にイギリスの首相質問の模様を放送している。
一部のイギリスのデジタルテレビジョン受像機はイギリス国内から直接、FOXニュースやイギリスの視聴者を対象として制作される, CNNヨーロッパ、ESPNクラシックUK、コメディー・セントラルUK、FX UK等のアメリカのテレビ番組を直接視聴することが可能である。1982年からはアメリカンフットボールのNFLトーナメント優勝決定戦であるスーパーボウルがイギリスでも放送されている。
マドンナ、ティナ・ターナー、シェーア、マイケル・ジャクソン、ビング・クロスビー、エルヴィス・プレスリー、ボブ・ディラン、ダイアナ・ロス、ブリトニー・スピアーズ、クリスティーナ・アギレラ、フランク・シナトラ、レディー・ガガ、ビヨンセ等に代表されるアメリカのアーティストはイギリスでも高い人気を誇る。一方で、ビートルズ、ローリング・ストーンズ、スティング、ザ・フー、シャーリー・バッシー、トム・ジョーンズ、デヴィッド・ボウイ、スパイス・ガールズ, ビージーズ、エイミー・ワインハウス、KTタンストール、レオナ・ルイス、エルトン・ジョン、コールドプレイ等のイギリスのアーティストもアメリカの音楽市場において大きな成功を収めている。疑いの余地なく、両国のポピュラー音楽は互いに強い影響を与えている。
アメリカでは、多くのハリウッド映画やブロードウェイ・ミュージカルが音楽作品やサウンドトラックと密接に結びついて制作された。これらの分野（映画音楽、ミュージカル音楽）で著名なアメリカ人作曲家にはジョージ・ガーシュウィン、ロジャース&ハマースタイン、ヘンリー・マンシーニ、ジョン・ウィリアムズ、アラン・シルヴェストリ、ジェリー・ゴールドスミス、ジェームズ・ホーナーがいる。
ケルト音楽はアメリカの音楽に大きな影響を与えた。とりわけ、合衆国南部の伝統音楽はイギリス植民地時代に受けたケルト音楽やイングランドのフォーク音楽の影響から派生した。これは後にカントリー・ミュージックと呼ばれるようになり、アメリカのフォーク音楽を築き上げた。
ジャズ、スウィング、ビッグバンド、そして特にロックンロールの音楽ジャンルはすべてアメリカ合衆国に端を発しており、後にイギリスで発展したロック音楽にも大きな影響を与えた。アメリカのブルースが基となって、特にビートルズやローリング・ストーンズなどイギリスのエレクトリック・ロックに影響を与えた。