Why do United Kingdom and and the US have such a strong bond?

…..cause we both like to kick major ass.

Probably because we can compromise with them over certain issues and have similar viewpoints regarding the economic trouble were in and because of how we are currentlty still involved in the war. We don’t consider them an enemy and know that we can rely on them to lend their assitance for certain causes such as supplying relief and aid.

@Pele That attitude makes me want to like them even less.

@Jude it’s true though, like it or not

@Pele I disagree.

Makes me throw up in my mouth a little.

I don’t know, but I was recently at a social event with Americans (all of whom I am acquainted with), French and Brits (none of whom I was acquainted with). I found the Brits to be much easier to chat with than even with the French people who spoke English well (I speak almost no French). And these were a group of people who are all in the same profession, so we all had quite a lot in common. The French were perfectly nice, friendly people. The Brits were just more “like” me, I guess.

Like they say, two nations divided by a common language.

I think that there is some truth to that. The United States started out as a British colony. There is a link of history and ancestry there that the British do ot have with the continental Europeans.

I guess our cultures and attitudes are similar, which makes sense since we were a British colony. Things have changed somewhat over time, and of course the US is very diverse now with many cultures and subcultures, but the people in power in the US still tend to be descendents of the British, the majority of US Presidents are either part English or full-blooded. In America we talk about becoming Americanized, but commonalities among groups can still be observed.

I stil dont think speaking a common language will make you geopardize your national interests…

@noly Who said anything about speaking a common language?

Should there be a dispute between Europe and America,who the british will side with?

@noly Europe and America? Europe has many countries, there is no way to answer that by considering the whole continent of Europe.

It’s to do with roots. Many Americans trace their ancestors back to emigrants from Scotland, Ireland and England. Than in itself creates an unbreakable bond on both sides of the Atlantic. Also American institutions, the national language and even the idea of America itself can be traced back to the UK.

There are many other countries and peoples who have contributed to the making of the United States but the link with Britain seems the most direct and the strongest.

@flutherother Interestingly, I think the last stat I saw on English anscestory in the US, put the percent at just under 10%, which of course is much different than at the time of the founding of our country.

Common language and culture are often mentioned to explained those ties.
@JLeslie ,it stikes me that The british sided with the US even in opposition of major european countries like France and Germany.If Europe wants to be a force to be reckoned with,dont you think that this british attitude hurt them?

Language, trade, World War 2. Unfortunately, with a Tory in power in Britain, there is inevitably going to be a continuation of the fawning and subservience we have seen since Thatcher, regarding our relationship with the US. The UK itself is desperately short of any sense of being a cohesive nation with a strong identity; being critical of the nearest of our neighbours and overly desperate to be friends with the US. The Queen (gawd bless ‘er socks) is worth income and kudos for the pageantry she garners, but sadly, not enough to get the UK up off it’s bottom to sort out it’s own problems internally and build some simple respect for what we have here.

bah humbug

@noly I don’t know the politics well in Europe, but certainly there is fairly recent history of England needing to fight of the Germans and other European countries directly. Think WWII. America, even while enemies with Russia, were allies during wars. It is very complicated.

I guess with the formation of the EU it gets more complicated. For now each country in Western Europe seems to be retaining its own identity and government for the most part, but that will continue to evolve I think.

I’ll send your question to some of the Europeans on fluther.

Lybia is more of all of NATO with France and Britain being the largest two players in that arena. The US has assumed a much more passive role in Lybia.

The US saved the UK both during WWI and WWII.

First off, it’s not ‘Lybia’. It’s Libya*, did Fox News teach you this spelling? or are you just horny, your freudian brain being drawn towards typing ‘Labia’. just playing, all :)

My view on US-UK relations is that we both generally enjoy it and need it. I’m not American, but I feel like if the US didn’t have strong allies patting their back and nodding in approval, they would feel (over time) more isolated and suspicious of others (yes, more suspicious than now) and perhaps more aggressive because of that.

For the UK, well, we have very good relations with many european countries, maybe we wish Germany weren’t so timid with international efforts, but we know they are the most ‘organized’ nation on Earth. Maybe Spain, Russia and Turkey can be a little difficult and oddball at times, but we are very far apart from them culturally and financially. As a British flutherite I feel a little more secure with this US-UK alliance than I would with any other country, but saying that, it’s not like there are any major couplings between European countries either. Sure places like Austria, Netherlands, Poland and Belgium often team up with Italy, Germany and France respectively, but I feel like the major European players are very much independent in everything except their economy (here, the EU has helped out its bankrupt members Greece and Portugal recently), although the Scandinavian countries are often holding hands, I suppose because of their shared history and climate.

So in conclusion, the UK would rather be hugging the leg of the USA than buddying up with hmm, France? Republic of Ireland? lol and the USA is very happy having the UK help them out in whatever nation they decide to interfere with next (fairly or not) and correct me if I’m wrong, were not the US and UK the first heroes of democracy? That’s got to be a big tie. I think it would be a terrible shame if this ‘alliance’ were to ever wain and fall apart.

@trickface I think it depends how far back you go and how you want to define democracy. I think the Greeks are credited with the first democracies. And, Ancient Iran? One of the middle eastern countries, maybe I am incorrect about which one.

Others have said it already, but in a lot of ways, the UK is our own flesh and blood. Yes, I’m aware that both of our nations are very multicultural now, but you know what I’m talking about. And also, as @mattbrowne said, a lot of American boys shed their blood alongside the Brits to fight the Kaiser and then the Nazis US-UK relations actually weren’t too keen up until that point.

Additionally, the US was founded on Enlightenment principles that were decidedly British, so we kind of have a philosophical/centers of the Western World thing between us.

We both speak similar dialects of English also.

It’s based on guilt. We feel bad about dumping their tea, and they feel bad about burning our capital to the ground and killing our women and children.

@FPSMadPaul , @jellyfish3232 both hilarious answers :)

It’s because you (USA) give us good movies and we (UK) give you good music in return xxx

Canada burned the capital, not the Brits, strictly speaking. But I think @mattbrowne pinned it down nicely. The US came to Britain’s aide in WW1 and WW2 and to us in Europe, that is close enough history to still feel personal about.

@trickface what can I say? It was a Freudian-ish slip

@mattbrowne And the UK and the US together saved Europe.

@flutherother and the very clever resistance fighters from the occupied countries.

@flutherother – The UK did not save Europe in WWI. The country contributed significantly to creating suffering and pain in Europe and has to be blamed too. The context was very different before WWII. I totally agree with your view on WWII.

@mattbrowne Accepted. I was thinking of WWII. If the defeat of Germany in WW1 had been better handled I don’t believe WWII would even have happened.

@flutherother – Not only that. If the UK had accepted a stalemate in 1916 it would have saved millions of lives and billions of pounds and marks and francs. But because the UK had borrowed so much money from the US already, they didn’t want to pay back their debt. They wanted to win, so Germany had to pay. The events that led to WWI was a complete diplomatic failure on all sides. The counseling of the military made things worse. A 1870 mindset with 1914 technology weapons.

A great novel exploring all the details is Ken Follett’s century trilogy Fall of Giants. Really worth reading.

@mattbrowne Diplomacy in 1914 could have preserved the peace but in 1916 Britain thought they could win the war and eliminate the threat of an expansionist Germany once and for all. That’s why we called it ‘The War to End War’, very ironic as it turned out. A little give and take could have prevented it from starting in the first place.

PS thanks for the book tip.

Speaking of the US, Britain, and WWI…

Unfortunately, however the relationship has developed, it has not made it possible for an Eaton educated man to look cool when playing ping-pong badly, with the first truly elegant (in recent decades at least) US President . Us Brits are really best at looking uncool, whilst somehow still managing to make it seem intentional. Emperor’s new clothes at their best methinks. The elephant was big in that room…

any fans in the US of ‘The Office’, take a look at the Brit original. How did that much clumsiness or overt idiocy ever get to be cool? Hm?