I’m not a great believer in the ‘special relationship’, a concept that exists almost entirely in the mind of British journalists, especially during those occasional moments when the English-speaking nations have to bomb some awful former colony.
Americans and Brits have a generally positive view of each other—speaking the same language will do that—but American foreign policy does not have some special place for us, even during the rule of Anglophile presidents like Reagan; let alone that of ambivalent ones like Obama. America does have three special relationships: two emotional ones with Ireland and Israel, and a sado-masochistic political-financial one with Saudi Arabia.
Still, there is one area where the special relationship is real – spying. As the Washington Post revealed this week, America spies on everyone in the world, literally every country, with four exceptions – Australia, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand.
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