The phrase "a tense relationship between" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a situation where there is conflict, disagreement, or discomfort between two or more parties.
Example: "There has been a tense relationship between the two neighboring countries for decades, often leading to diplomatic disputes."
Alternatives: "a strained relationship between" or "a conflicted relationship between".
A tense relationship between Rudge and her dialect-speaking daughter ensued.
Both leaders seemed intent on wiping away suggestions of a tense relationship between their countries.
Additional papers released in the yearlong investigation depicted a tense relationship between White House and E.P.A. officials.
The dispute over Ukraine's future adds yet another flash point to a tense relationship between officials in Moscow and Brussels.
Reports of a tense relationship between the Obamas and Hillary Clinton and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, have persisted throughout the Obama presidency.
The recent shooting of 16 Afghan civilians and the arrest of an American soldier has further strained a tense relationship between Afghanistan and the United States.
In the Safien valley, a tense relationship exists between the famers who have consciously chosen to apply traditionally acquired, agricultural strategies (often associated with extensive agricultural practices, for example when precipices that are too steep for machinery are scythed per hand), and farmers who operate as intensively as possible by using heavy machinery and intense fertilization.
That same geography "commands a perennially tense relationship between Russia and China," even as a shared commitment to authoritarian government and sovereign prerogatives pushes their regimes together.
The shooting is just the latest incident in a historically tense relationship between Oakland's black community and law enforcement, including a corruption case known as the Riders case in which a group of Oakland police officers were accused of abusing and falsely accusing suspects.
WASHINGTON Israelel's deadly commando raid on Monday on a flotilla trying to break a blockade of Gaza complicated President Obama's efforts to move ahead on Middle East peace negotiations and introduced a new strain into an already tense relationship between the United States and Israel.
Some intelligence experts and Republican lawmakers say they believe that the White House has tried to micromanage America's spy agencies, and there was a particularly tense relationship between Mr. Blair and John O. Brennan, the White House counterterrorism director.
