special relationship

Belief that ties of common language, culture, and shared aims of the defence of democratic principles should sustain a political relationship between the USA and the UK, and that the same would not apply to relationships between the USA and other European states.

Close cooperation in the sharing of nuclear-weapons technology has usually been cited as evidence of this bond, whereas the belated entry of the USA into both world wars in support of the UK has been interpreted as proof of its limitations in the light of political realities. Despite the special relationship, differences of opinion have occurred, largely reflecting the role of the USA as a superpower with concomitant global views compared to that of Britain as an increasingly European-oriented state.