Renewing the US Commitment to the Anglo-American Relationship

David Cameron’s Visit to Washington: An Important Opportunity to Renew Anglo-American Leadership, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #4330, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, January 13, 2015. "President Barack Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on January 15–16. This will be Cameron’s last visit to the United States before the U.K.’s general election on May 7, 2015. Five issues should dominate the visit: (1) Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe; (2) the crisis in Iran and the Levant; (3) the future of the U.K. inside the European Union (EU); (4) the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); and (5) defending the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands at the upcoming Organization of American States (OAS) Summit."

What Obama Should Do To Restore the Special Relationship

In Meeting with Cameron, Obama Should Advance the U.S.-U.K. Special Relationship, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3933, May 10, 2013. "President Barack Obama will host British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on May 13. Publicly, it has been announced that the visit will be dominated by events in Syria, economic cooperation, countering terrorism, and priorities for the next meeting of the G-8. Privately, David Cameron is likely to raise a number of sensitive issues, such as the U.S. position on the Falkland Islands and the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU). This visit offers an opportunity for President Obama to get the Special Relationship back on track."

How the Dictators Hang Together

A Falkland Islands Coda, Contentions, March 21, 2013. "Spurred on by James Kirchick’s superb piece on why the Falkland Islands matter, and by my on-going visit to the UN, it’s worth pointing out how the Falklands illustrate one more thing: how the autocracies, in hanging together at the UN, all too often organize around their shared hatred of Israel."

Embarrassing U.S. Policy on the Falklands

After the Falklands Referendum, U.S. Must Back Britain, Forward, Conservative Way Forward, March 20, 2013. "The policy of the United States towards the Falkland Islands is an embarrassment. It is past time for the U.S. to recognize that the sovereignty of the Islands has been settled by history, by Britain’s victory in 1982, and by the voice of the Islanders themselves."

Puzzling U.S. Policy on The Falkland Islands

US Should Stop Playing Games with the Freedom of the Falkland Islands, Yorkshire Post (UK), March 12, 2013. "It is hard to understand what the US thinks it is achieving by encouraging Britain to negotiate away the rights of the Falkland Islanders. Yet that is exactly what Washington is doing. Starting with the notorious 2010 press conference with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, a string of US officials have urged Britain to negotiate with Argentina."

The Falklands Are British

The United States Should Recognize British Sovereignty Over the Falkland Islands, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2771, March 4, 2013. "In order to assert their inherent right to choose their own form of government, the inhabitants of the Falkland Islands will hold a referendum on March 10–11, 2013, to decide whether they wish to maintain their allegiance to Great Britain. Britain has administered the Islands peacefully and continuously since 1833, with the exception of the two months in 1982 when the Islands were invaded and illegally occupied by Argentine forces. The Obama Administration has backed Argentina’s calls for a U.N.-brokered settlement for the Islands and so far has refused to recognize the outcome of the referendum. This policy poses serious risks to U.S. interests and is an insult both to Britain—the U.S.’s closest ally—and to the rights of the Islanders."

U.S. Should Respect Outcome of Falklands Referendum

Falkland Islands: U.S. Should Support Right to Self-Determination, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3864, February 27, 2013. "On March 10–11, the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, will hold a referendum to decide whether to maintain allegiance to Great Britain. The islands are self-governing but maintain the British monarch as their head of state. The referendum is an answer to Argentina, which, though defeated by Britain in the 1982 Falklands War, is again waging a campaign of threats and intimidation in an effort to gain control of the islands. The U.S. should respect the outcome of the Falkland Islands referendum."

Priorities in US-European Relations

John Kerry’s Grand Tour: Priorities for Europe, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3858, February 21, 2013. "The Obama Administration has too often taken America’s relations with Europe for granted. Secretary Kerry’s trip to Europe will offer him an opportunity to improve relations with America’s European partners, especially the United Kingdom, while at the same time ending blind U.S. support for deeper European integration."

Thirty Year On, Lessons from the Falklands

Falklands War: Lessons of Liberation Ring True for U.S. Today, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3639, June 14, 2012. "The Falklands War illustrates the fundamental point that, in international affairs, one should always treat one’s friends better than anyone else. But it also offers a number of lessons for America as it struggles to avoid the devastating effects of defense sequestration and to maintain a military that provides for the common defense."

Unacceptable Ambivalance on Falklands

Obama’s Private Assurances on Falklands Not Good Enough, Contentions, March 18, 2012. "Until I hear President Obama state, on the record and publicly, that the U.S. sees no reason for negotiations over the Islands because it recognizes British sovereignty over them, I am going to take this brief, private interchange reported at second hand for what it is worth: not very much at all."

What the Summit Should Have Done

At Obama-Cameron Summit, U.S. and Britain Should Take Action to Rebuild Alliance, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #3533, March 8, 2012. "The U.S. and Britain face a number of serious issues at home and abroad. But the most important need is for the U.S. to demonstrate that Europe matters, that the institutions of the EU are no substitute for—and are in fact inferior to—the legitimacy of democratic and sovereign European nations, and that, instead of seeking to reset relations with autocracies like Russia, it will give the highest consideration to the concerns of its allies. The U.S. and Britain are close enough and important enough to each other to disagree on occasion, as they have in the past. But if Britain decides to continue the downgrading of its security role or the U.S. continues to care less about transatlantic security and political cooperation, the problem will not be an Anglo-American disagreement. It will be the slow disappearance of the Special Relationship."

What Cameron Should Say (Or Have Said)

Britain’s David Cameron Must Tell Obama the Truth, Foxnews.com, July 20, 2010. "In a relationship, troubles never come one at a time. The Anglo-American Special Relationship is no different. Obama’s early discourtesies – the ejection of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, the gift of incompatible DVDs to Gordon Brown, who is partially blind – were minor in themselves. But they were a token of the president’s belief that Britain is just like any other European country – easily wooed, and hence of no real account."

Action in US-UK Relations Happens Off the Field

Take Your Eye Off the Ball, Foxnews.com, June 12, 2010. "In one respect, the World Cup match between England and the United States is a study in symbolism. For Americans, it symbolizes, first, the fact of our exceptionalism. Unlike the rest of the world, we just don’t care very much about soccer. The fact that the U.S.’s first match is against England has brought out the second bit of symbolism: the U.S. media’s belief that England is the one nation against which American patriotism may legitimately be directed."