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British more cautious in 'special relationship' with U.S.

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With new British Prime Minister David Cameron making his first trip to Washington for bilateral talks with U.S. President Barack Obama, the director of one of Britain's leading think-tanks has highlighted the more cautious nature of the partnership since the coalition government came to power.

Visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron attends a joint press conference after his meeting with U.S. President Obama (not pictured) at the East Room of the White House in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, July 20, 2010. [Zhang Jun/Xinhua]

Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the new coalition government, which came to power on May 11 in the wake of the inconclusive May 6 general election, did not want to fall "into the role of junior partner which they believed that Prime Minister Tony Blair ended up having to play."

Niblett said: "So, we have seen quite a cautious approach by the new government in its relationship with the United States. The language that has been used, they have not used the phrase 'special relationship' on the UK side. It has been used by President Barack Obama since David Cameron won."

He added that there had also been a caution about Afghanistan, with David Cameron and Nick Clegg's coalition government trying to make sure that it doesn't look as if it is "simply fitting in behind a U.S. political strategy, so there is therefore some differentiation on the timelines for how long their troops will be based in the country."

He said that new directions in foreign policy strategy had been laid out by Foreign Secretary William Hague, with less focus on the United States.

Niblett said Hague "really spends more time talking about how the UK needs to build up its own bilateral relations with emerging powers around the world -- not just China, but also India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc."

The "special relationship" between Britain and the United States remained strong, said Niblett. "It is even a special relationship in some areas -- in military cooperation in Afghanistan, of counter-terrorism against terrorist threats, so it is still a strong relationship but I think it is undergoing some interesting changes at the moment."

The relationship between the United States and Britain was now changing because former British prime minister Gordon Brown was in a weak position domestically and needed to demonstrate his closeness to Obama, as Obama has great international popularity.

"I think David Cameron has taken a much more relaxed and stand-offish, almost, approach to the U.S. and has waited for the invitation to come to him to go to Washington rather than him trying to get an invitation to Washington in advance. So there is a very noticeable change of tone," said Niblett.

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