The 'special relationship', as it concerns US-UK relations, isn't just a military or political alliance, but a remarkable closeness in political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, military and historical relations. It's doubtful that any two countries could develop that kind of relationship that didn't start from the same point as the US and the UK, sharing a common language, common traditions of government, common points of culture, and a history of very close diplomatic relations, often on a personal level. Do we imagine nuclear sharing with Nationalist China, inclusion of them in a Five Eyes type arrangement? There's alliance, and then there's naked Chiang Kai-Shek in Truman's bathtub.