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| 120421-N-KQ416-554 ARABIAN SEA (April 21, 2012) The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) and the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment oiler RFA Fort Victoria (A387) transit the Arabian Sea. Abraham Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility conducting maritime security operations, theater security cooperation efforts and support missions as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Zachary S. Welch/Released) |
Its time to rethink the "special relationship" between the US and the UK.
My reasoning is that....
*Culturally the two countries are light years apart now. You would be hard pressed for a UK citizen and a US citizen to agree on anything of substance.
*The UK is moving toward Europe and away from the US. Why should we stop it or be concerned by it? The most obvious example is the move by the UK (instigated by them too) to adopt a closer defense alliance with the French. This is by no means a game changer but it does give an indication of where they see their future. Its with the French and not the US.
*What good is it to any of the involved parties? The UK's citizenry (along with the rest of Europe) enjoys bashing the US. It would probably be of great relief to the British people to see the US go away...most Americans caught up in nonsense wouldn't notice...and why should they? It won't affect there lives.
*We need to focus on Asia and the special relationship drags us back to the same tired European issues that are helping to stunt our turn to the east.
There are a couple of other points that I could make but you get the gist of this. We should treat the UK like we treat Germany. Allied but not exactly friendly.
This nonsense with tech sharing has to stop too. Its been a one way street and hasn't benefited us. If you look at BAE's work with the F-35 its been under the banner of their US division. They've had to create that division in order to comply with US restrictions on the selling of our tech on the open market.
Besides, with the way that the UK's governments been in la-la land concerning which airplane they want to buy I wouldn't be surprised to see them simply walk away. Even that might not be such a bad thing. It would probably add a bit of stability to the program if they left. A few countries might decide to follow but not enough to make a difference. Its been a US program from the start and if only the US, China, Russia and India along with a few select allies have stealth why is that bad?
Yeah.
This special relationship must evolve. And by evolve I mean end.
NOTE: THE PROBLEM ISN'T GREATER EUROPE. Its the big 3. The Uk, France and Germany. With the other nations of Europe, if you look at the size of their militaries then you'll see a large contribution was indeed given to the effort in Afghanistan. Additionally several of the other countries on that continent appear to simply want an equal partnership. The big 3 acts as if they're the big brother to America the little one. From the US bashing that is rampant, to the snarky editiorials to the revisionist history its all stale.
Solomon, you cant have it both ways, eighter we dont do enough, to police our own back yards, or we're doing things you dont like, by creating treaties with other euro powers, which is it kinda gives me whip lash to see how you can argue both are wrong
ReplyDeletenot both ways. its about putting a period on this relationship. the Uk can team up with anyone. i'm not about holding them back from that. all i'm saying is that we should reassess the relations.
ReplyDeletereassess how? that we've been at war for over a decade because you where attacked?
ReplyDeletenice, several hundred dead british personal, not enough to show friendship?
don't you dare.
ReplyDeleteyou know better than that but its an easy fall back isn't it. just by your statement on environmentalist shows a bit of USA bashing. we live in a huge country and we travel freely. but instead of understanding it you basically slam our life style.
yeah. this relationship needs to be rethought. on a basic thing like the environment we disagree. on a basic thing like middle east policy we disagree.
oh and one other thing. the action in Afghanistan and Iraq was done under the flag of NATO with the UN showing up later. most of your citizens still want the relationship to end yet you insist that it must be preserved.
ask yourself a basic question. why must it be preserved? why?
i thought the video was funny, and it's view point, was how i say, narrow. I think i said it before, i'm a whisky drinking, ginger haired, irn bru drinking, skirt wearing scots guy, everyone can be bashed, dont take it personally.
ReplyDeleteYou missed the point i was trying to make about the title, the world is changing, america has to keep up, or be left behind, a new industry is being created, that has the potential to create alot of good paying jobs, it's called green technology, clinging onto the past because it's easier isn't the right thing to do.
change gradually, change to gas by all means it's way cleaner than coal
change your gas guzzelers, to more efficent engines, even a hybrid would be good.
It may be a Nato banner but lets not forget, why it started, who provides most of the troops, who died the most, the u.s. & the u.k.
Is that not fact? Friends disagree, even fight have oposing view points, but still are friends.
is it a case of i need a friend right now, but f**k you very much after??
i hope not
Sol, i'd reply in more depth if I had the time, but I've only just overcome the "you're a freaking idiot" response. So all i'll say for now is, I think you fundamentally misjudge the British people, the relationship the Uk has with Europe (if you asked straight up, the majority of British people would want to get out of Europe too) and the usefulness for the USA of several parts of the relationship.
ReplyDeleteThis relationship has been based on mutual use for many years, and despite the end of the Cold War, still is.
i think if you were being honest you'd have to accept that many of your countrymen don't feel the same. i've seen the anti-US protest.
Deletei've watched the BBC and SkyNews and seen some coverage that makes me wonder what the hell.
*Culturally the two countries are light years apart now.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think so. The UK may have embraced socialized medicine and like their luxuries a little too much. But, I think the average US citizen and UK citizen want the same things in life.
*The UK is moving toward Europe and away from the US.
Where they see their future? Perhaps. But I'm sure they'll get a reality check when the Argentines invade the Falklands again. Its been over 20 years since the UK has faced a real security threat. When push comes to shove, who'll be there beside them?
*What good is it to any of the involved parties?
Well, I would say at the very least, the US has a steadfast friend in the UK, that can be mostly relied upon to stand by us in the international arena. As for the UK, they get some of our technology. To a certain degree, they get a seat the table. I would hope that the US has the fortitude to stand by the UK in the international arena.
Its easy to say just be allies with the UK, like Germany. But as history has shown, alliances are truly only worth the paper they are written on. Friendship isn't so easily tossed aside.
*We need to focus on Asia and the special relationship drags us back to the same tired European issues that are helping to stunt our turn to the east.
What are these tired European issues? How are they keeping the US from pivoting to a focus on the Far East? Why is the special relationship between the US and the UK to blame for that?
BTW, I enjoy your blog, though I wish you'd tag your posts. ;)
when a reader of mine and a friend (although we've never met) slams my country on something as mundane (in my mind) as climate change i think all bets are off.
Deleteculturally our nations have diverged. historic friendship is all thats left but in my mind thats not enough.
as far as a steadfast friend...really? say that out loud and check out the arrogance that is the British military (not the troops but the leadership and military thinkers)...when it comes time for them to upgrade their subs they want to simply piggyback on our research. they want to partner with France and if they actually buy the F-35 i fully expect its secrets to fall into French hands with them using the information to improve the Rafale and to get a jump on stuff like that EO/DAS...something we're beating the snot out of them with our tech lead.
we make a turn to the Pacific and suddenly the Brits want to get involved too? really? lets be real here. the problem isn't greater europe teh problem is the big 3.
The BBC is basically the broadcast arm of the Labour Party. It is well known for its US-bashing, anti-Israel (verging on anti-semitism), pro-Islam, pro-gay (well beyond live and let), anti-English, anti-Protestant, anti-gun, anti-science, etc. etc. You can't judge us by it. The BBC sits for the most part in London bubble. All Europe is for most English is somewhere to go for our holidays. The EU is despised as costly undemocratic con trick that has cost us dearly not only financially but in terms of our relationships with our English speaking brother nations.
ReplyDeleteI know which armed services have guaranteed my safety all my life. And they don't swear allegiance to HM Queen.
well if thats the case Steve how come people like Nigel Farge are basically laughed at and called morons but on this side of the Atlantic they're hailed as heroes and i would vote for the guy for President?
ReplyDeletei get what you and others are saying it just seems rather rampant.
i'll reassess.
Same reason Ron Paul wins election after election. Electorates have short term memories and short term needs. If all the major parties offer the UK no choice on Europe then the electorate have no choice.
DeleteTo be honest the US has done the UK over lots of times since they have been the dominant power.
It's really a false choice that we have to lessen any existing relationship in order to strengthen others. Emphasis on the Pacific does have to mean, nor should, other relationships become less important.
ReplyDeleteThat aside the average Brit has become less enthused with the EU over the past few years and feel very good about not joining the Eurozone. The French periodically try to forge closer relations with various nations. It's a problematic process given the other player is always left with the French eventually reverting to being French.
The US and UK share too many interests to end up to far apart. First and foremost London is a financial powerhouse and on some levels still the financial capitol of the world such as foreign currency exchange. The status of London is another reason why the UK is not going to integrate more with the EU.
Sol you might want to follow Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, and perhaps regain a little faith that not all in the UK is lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLFyXilPa4k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llDYLb7HoIk
I'm starting to get really f'ed off by the constant UK bashing on this site.
ReplyDeleteWe are partnered together with the US on so many programmes.
We support you in pretty much all of your crusades around the world, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Africa.
We allowed you to store nukes on our soil in the 80s.
Crucial parts of your comms, sigint and missile defence networks are on our territory.
Do you seriously want to end all this? Get a grip!
@darren1678: "Green" is the new cold fusion. There's a reason most "green" companies can't survive without subsidies. You might want to think about that.
ReplyDeletegreen needs subsidies, like nuclear, coal, farmers, car industries, hollywood & every other company that gets tax breaks.
DeleteDon't want our tech Sol? Well in that case your beloved F-35B won't be able to do V/TOL automatically as this comes from Britain, as does the F-135's engine ice protection system. Tech transfer works both ways and the USA was way behind the UK in both these areas. If they weren't, the Brit companies would never have involved in these programmes.
ReplyDeleteyou really don't want to go down the road of tech transfers. i mean you REALLY don't want to go down this road.
Deletethis is another hold over from history but in current context things have changed drastically.
first lets talk about aviation in general and then the F-35 engine in particular.
the UK dismantled its aviation industry from INSIDE. no one pushed it to force all of its airplane makers to die after publishing study after study and coming to the wrong conclusions.
no one told the UK to sell off its big carriers. no one is telling the UK to scrap the few light carriers it has. no one is telling the UK to build two new carriers and immediately mothball one of them
no one told the UK to sell its Harriers. the list can go on...all the way back to the Buccaneer days.
but lets talk about the F-35 engine. the real British tech was on the losing proposition. lockheed martin, the US govt and the US entity of BAE industries was partnered on that engine.
the UK did not design that engine by itself.
so climb down off that high horse.
additonally tech transfer was a two way street along time ago...Chobham armor for example but that was a long time ago. now you're piggy backing on our stuff and act as if its expected.
pound sand son. you're wrong as two left shoes.