Charles brings reminder of common interests at a critical time

In March 1946 in Fulton, Missouri, Sir Winston Churchill delivered his seminal “Iron Curtain” speech and in it he urged that there be a “special relationship” between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States.

A decade later, that relationship was tested when Britain, France and Israel launched a surprise military operation trying to control the Suez Canal, a vital maritime chokepoint. Anecdotally, President Eisenhower is said to have screamed down the telephone line at British Prime Minister Anthony Eden, “Are you crazy!?”

History, it appears, does indeed rhyme.

In the early 1980s, it was the deployment of American intermediate range missiles that provoked rolling protests at American bases in Britain until the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1988.

During my time in London in the early 1990s, it was the granting of a visa to Sinn Féin/IRA leader Gerry Adams despite Adams’ refusal to renounce terrorism or embrace the then- ongoing peace process. My Ambassador, the Hon. Raymond Seitz, spent an uncomfortable evening at No. 10 being dressed down. The problem was, the Ambassador agreed with the Brits.

Now there are tensions in that special relationship again, this time over a war in the Middle East and the closing of a vital maritime chokepoint in which the United States and Britain are not, shall we say, shoulder to shoulder.

So, the visit of King Charles III to the United States comes at an especially propitious time for fence-mending and deep breaths.

The king’s speech to a joint session of Congress was a master class in how to remind members of the political leadership in both our countries how much we really do have in common (except, as Oscar Wilde observed, language).

The king is not known for giving political speeches and yet in the body of the 2600 words he delivered there were not-so-subtle reminders of the issues that divide the current American administration and the British government.

There was even a veiled reference to the Epstein scandal in calling for support of the victims “of some of the ills that so tragically exist in both our societies today.”

The king extolled the virtues of NATO and reminded us that the only time that Article 5 had been invoked was in the wake of 9/11 and how British forces had stood with American forces in Afghanistan.

The king stated: “Today, Mr. Speaker, that same unyielding resolve is needed for the defense of Ukraine and her most courageous people. It is needed in order to secure a truly just and lasting peace.”

The statement received bipartisan applause.

In reminding us of the roots of the fundamental ideas that shape our own country the king noted that “Magna Carta is cited in at least 160 Supreme Court cases since 1789, not least as the foundation of the principle that executive power is subject to checks and balances.”

Democratic lawmakers were quick to leap to their feet in affirmation.

Finally, the king is a longtime environmentalist, so no such speech would be complete without his plea on the issue of climate change. Or, as the King so delicately put it: “Our generation must decide how to address the collapse of critical natural systems, which threatens far more than the harmony and essential diversity of nature. We ignore at our peril the fact that these natural systems — in other words, nature’s own economy — provide the foundation for our prosperity and our national security.”

As the king reminded us, our shared values have always allowed us to find a way to overcome our differences. Still, one wonders if understated British eloquence is enough to overcome so many.

• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86. His book “American Dreams: The Story of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission” is available from Amazon.com.