While the special relationship from Reagan-Thatcher through to Bush-Blair was defined by an America in ascendancy, the economic crisis and the deep structural flaws in the US economy that it revealed caused the Obama-Cameron relationship to be heavily defined by the fact that America is now weakened, at the very least, and possibly at the beginning of a protracted period of decline.

What that may mean for the “specialness” of the relationship is best illustrated via the foreign policy interactions that have taken place during the tenures of the two men. On the one hand, these are favourable to Cameron and the UK. Not only is America hardly the domineering partner of even the recent past – thus enabling Cameron to announce the unilateral draw down of British troops in Afghanistan on a schedule not ideal from the US perspective – but the US has actually become much more dependent on working within coalitions, including Nato, in places such as Libya, or in partnerships with Europe on issues such as creating economic incentives for Middle East reformers or sanctions for bad actors. The UK is a natural interlocutor in such coalitions and so plays a more important role to a US that is less inclined to act alone, and to a President whose instincts are more oriented toward multilateralism than any of his recent predecessors…

For, however loud the cheers may be for Obama when he speaks to Parliament, however warm the reception may be for him at Buckingham Palace or in the British tabloids, however the Cameron-Obama relationship may have deepened against all odds, it must be acknowledged that most important US relationship with Europe today is with Germany.