After World War II the UNO legalized the act of liquidating the colonial system. In 1960 the General Assembly adopted the declaration of independence for colonial countries and peoples and as a result more than 70 young independent states appeared on the world map.
In the middle of the 60s the British Empire as a political system of domination over the colonial peoples came actually to its end. Almost all the colonies except a few protectorates in Africa and a few island possessions got their political independence.
Despite Britain's loss of power and status on the world stage, some small remnants of the empire remain. Whatever their racial origins, the inhabitants of Gibraltar, St Helena, the Ascension Islands, the Falkland (Malvina) Islands and Belize have wished to continue with the imperial arrangement (they are afraid of being swallowed up by their nearest neighbours). For British governments, on the one hand this is a source of pride, but on the other hand it causes embarrassment and irritation: pride, because it suggests how beneficial the British imperial administration must have been; embarrassment, because the possession of colonial territories does not fit with the image of a modern democratic state; and irritation because it costs the British taxpayer money.
The old imperial spirit is not quite dead. In 1982 the British government spent hundreds of millions of pounds to recapture the Falkland (Malvina) Islands from the invading Argentineans.
Since the Second World War, British governments have often referred to the 'special relationship' which exists between Britain and the USA. There have been occasional low points, such as Suez and when the USA invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada (a member of the British Commonwealth). But generally speaking it has persisted. It survived the Falklands War, when the USA offered Britain important material help, but little public support, and regained its strength in 1991 during the Gulf War against Iraq, when Britain gave more active material support to the Americans than any other European country.
Public feeling about the relationship is ambiguous. On the one hand, it is reassuring to be so diplomatically close to the most powerful nation in the world, and the shared language gives people some sense of brotherhood with Americans. On the other hand, there is mild bitterness about the sheer power of the USA. There is no distrust, but remarks are often made about Britain being nothing more than the fifty-first state of the USA. Similarly, while some older people remember with gratitude the Americans who came to their aid in two world wars, others resent the fact that it took them so long to get involved!
In any case, the special relationship has inevitably declined in significance since Britain joined the European Community. In the world trade negotiations of the early 1990s, there was nothing special about Britain's position with regard to the USA — it was just part of the European trading bloc. The opening of the Channel tunnel in 1994 has emphasized that Britain’s links are now mainly with Europe.
