The Iraq War and the Special Relationship. How the Dynamics Between the United Kingdom and the United States were Challenged

This thesis will focus on the Special Relationship which was tested after 9/11 and the war in Iraq that followed. After introducing the history and concept of the Special Relationship the focus will be on the period that saw three Prime Ministers (PM) (Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, and David Cameron) and two Presidents (George W. Bush and Barack Obama), and where the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom changed. The personal developments of the nation leaders will indicate, from their personal view, how this relationship developed and what the Special Relationship changed to. This will be put in a theoretical framework that indicates how personal relations of nation leaders may have influenced decision making before and during the war. All the relationships between the leaders that fulfilled their prime ministership or presidency at a similar time will be analysed from a timespan of 9/11/2001 to the end of the war in 2011.