hey, hey, hey!

[Justine+David 218]

Background, most of you know the British media obsession with the "special relationship" phrase that the UK has with the US. When President Obama was elected, however, the UK got something of a downgrade to a "special partnership"

From wiki:

On meeting Brown as president for the first time in March 2009, Obama reaffirmed that 'Great Britain is one of our closest and strongest allies and there is a link and bond there that will not break... This notion that somehow there is any lessening of that special relationship is misguided... The relationship is not only special and strong but will only get stronger as time goes on.' Commentators, however, noted that the recurring use of 'special partnership' by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs could be signaling an effort to recast terms. One commentator noted the new term in a review of the HMS Gannet-pen holder which Brown presented to the president, and other gifts exchanged at the time. Obama presented Brown with 25 DVDs of American movies.

Now, just after Cameron is confirmed to be PM...

From the Guardian:

Barack Obama took the opportunity of David Cameron's arrival in Downing Street to press the reset button on US-UK relations, praising the prime minister and talking up historic ties between the two countries.

Cameron was barely through the door of No 10 on Tuesday when he received a call from Obama congratulating him and telling him the US has "no closer friend and ally than the United Kingdom". The president reiterated this today at a White House press conference with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.

Obama said of Cameron: "I find him to be a smart, dedicated, effective leader and somebody who we are going to be able to work with very effectively.

"He reaffirmed, without me bringing it up, his commitment to our strategy in Afghanistan."

Obama added: "We also both reaffirmed the extraordinary special relationship between the United States and Great Britain, one that outlasts any individual party, any individual leader. It is built up over centuries and it's not going to go away."

The speed at which Obama congratulated Cameron and the warmth of his words about the "special relationship" contrasted with the often messy relationship that existed between him and Gordon Brown.

Obama will meet Cameron at a G20 summit in Washington next month but he also extended an invitation, on behalf of himself and his wife, to Cameron and Samantha Cameron to visit DC in July.

Intent on cementing good relations quickly, the foreign secretary, William Hague, is to visit Washington on Friday for talks with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.

Reginald Dale, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said he was surprised at how warm Obama's statement was. "He seemed to make a bigger effort than he ever did with Gordon Brown. He has not shown much fondness for Britain so far and he has treated Britain as a country he will talk to only when it is useful to him," said Dale.

"It seems as if someone has been advising him to start with a clean sheet."

Dale added that Cameron, who he described as smooth and presentable, might establish a better rapport with Obama than "crusty old Brown".

Obama met Cameron in 2008 on a visit to Britain as part of his presidential election campaign. Journalist Richard Wolffe, who was on the trip and is close to White House staff, wrote in Renegade, his biography of Obama, that Obama's aides "preferred the energy of the up-and-coming Cameron compared with the dour and dreary Brown".

The Obama-Brown relationship was dogged by reported snubs that included removal of a Churchill bust from the White House and a shoddy choice of gifts for the prime minister on a visit to DC. But Obama tends to be businesslike and his relationship with Brown was no cooler than that between him and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, or the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Britain and Europe, though partners with the US in Afghanistan, have tended to be on the second tier of Obama's priorities. The president sees the prime area of US interest in the future as China and the Pacific.

The US media devoted more space to the British election than they normally do to overseas political events, with coverage in print and on television of election night and the subsequent horsetrading.

The New York Times and the Washington Post led with Cameron becoming prime minister. Mark Blyth, a politics professor at Brown University, joked that "maybe it was a slow news day" before attributing the interest to the novelty of a hung parliament.

Blyth identified three points of potential contention with Britain's new government: Washington's concern over the size of the UK debt; Britain backing away from spending on US defence projects; and Conservative antipathy towards the EU. The Obama administration backs the idea of a strong, unified Europe. "The US will want Britain in the tent pissing out rather than outside pissing in," Blyth said.

Congratulations, Britain. As you may know, I have a special relationship with one of your constituents. I hope it never gets downgraded to a special partnership

To the Brits: Are the folk as obsessed with the term as the newspapers are? Or are they just blowing it out of proportion?

To the Americans: Have you ever heard of this term, "special relationship" before you got together with your significant other? I sure hadn't until David told me about the hoopla with Obama and Brown.

To all: What do you think of this special relationship that we have? David's of the mind that the U.S. shouldn't play favorites with any particular country because Obama is trying to re-set foreign policy abroad and it won't help if we are particular to any one country, say for instance, if we're trying to improve relations with China. Me, I don't know. It seems to make sense, what David has said, yet on the other hand, it does feel like the UK is more connected to us than any other country in historical, cultural, and language ties and I would want to come to their defense if something bad happened...you know, they're our homies. Ain't no one gonna get 'em if I'm around!

[Gemmie 142]

I always hear the term "special relationship" being thrown around politically, but I don't know many people personally that like America's political ideas. It's just like in the playground when the little guy sticks near the big guy because of what he gets out of it.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Gemmie

[Nik+Heather 121]

First I've ever heard of the whole thing...

Anyway, I was thinking about this gift exchange - one guy gets a pen holder, and the other gets a bunch of DVDs. What ever happened to giving something culturally significant? Or are DVDs really what represents our American culture these days?

Also, that made me think of all the "stuff" presidents must have. There's probably an admin who is in charge of making sure that the UK's pen holder is on his desk when he's dealing with the UK, and Germany's pen holder is on the desk when they come to visit, etc. I wonder if there is a special closet just for presidential gifts. Heh.

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

I don't recall there being an "obsession" in the media with the special relationship/partnership. Granted, I have been AWOL for two and a half years, but I can't remember there being much more than commentary along the lines of "we have this relationship, supposedly, and it still sucks." Sometimes it felt like Britain was the dependable one who was willing to do ANYTHING to hold on to their partner, whilst the US was the flibbertigibbet with the wandering eye who stayed in the relationship because they had been, like, going out FOREVAH.

Anyway, the special relationship is more of an historical artifact of our shared heritage and language than anything economically advantageous for the two countries. Trade policies certainly favour other countries. It's a lovely, charming sentiment that says much about both countries -- that nations once seized in bloody conflict can be close allies -- but beyond that, meh. It's great for tourism!

Furthermore, whatever f^cktard told Obama that giving Brown a bunch of Region 1 DVDs was a good idea should be locked in a small room and forced to watch Region 2 DVDs of Hi-de-Hi! on a Region 1 player.

[Justine+David 218]

Anyway, I was thinking about this gift exchange - one guy gets a pen holder, and the other gets a bunch of DVDs. What ever happened to giving something culturally significant? Or are DVDs really what represents our American culture these days?

Well, the pen holder was made from wood of an anti-slavery ship and also apparently was the sister ship of the ship that the two great desks were made out of (one of them is the Oval office desk and the other is in Buckingham Palace), so it's pretty cultural.

I really wonder if somebody just dropped the ball on this, rather than give the suck-ey presents. The other big hoopla thing was that Obama returned the Churchill bust that was in the Oval office (it was not a present, but a loan from the UK) and replaced it with a bust of Lincoln, which I don't think is bad at all.

The 25 dvd thing, yeah, elm, totally silly on the present person's part with it being different regions, not to mention the fact that Brown doesn't have sight in one of his eyes. Apparently David was telling me that it was massive in the media when Obama came and did his supposed slights, and that's how I came to look into it. There's an entire wiki page devoted to the "special relationship."

Gemmie, I totally agree with you on the kid hanging out with the bigger kid. I read the book, "British Politics for Dummies" and there was an entire section devoted to U.S. relations with Britain and its place in the world. They even went into detail about our own political system. I know this sounds cliche, but even though I've always known intellectually that the U.S. is its own big country exerting a ton of influence in the world, it was odd seeing it there in print...surprised me a bit. And made me feel like it wasn't right that we had all this power.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Justine+David

[Pooky 3,795]

Furthermore, whatever f^cktard told Obama that giving Brown a bunch of Region 1 DVDs was a good idea should be locked in a small room and forced to watch Region 2 DVDs of Hi-de-Hi! on a Region 1 player.

Hi-de-Hi?

Ooh, that's harsh!

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Hi-de-Hi?

Ooh, that's harsh!