Special Relationship (UK's Foreign Policy)

[John Simkin]

In this article Charles Wheeler looks at the so-called special relationship between Britain and the United States. Wheeler argues that this special relationship has been the foundation of Britain's foreign policy for over 60 years. Wheeler claims that there have only been two examples when the British government refused to accept the policies being pursued by the American government. The first occasion was in 1954 when the government refused to agree to an Anglo-American military intervention in Vietnam. The second was in the 1960s when Harold Wilson repeatedly rejected President Johnson's demand that he support America's war in Vietnam by sending out a contingent of ground troops.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,...1204868,00.html

Wheeler argues that it is time for the UK to question the value of this special relationship. What do members think? Do other European countries have their foreign policies controlled by another power?