US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May

Politics

El fin de la Gran Bretaña global

Jun 25, 2018 Mark Malloch-Brown

LONDRES – Hoy en día, las palabras y acciones de Gran Bretaña en el escenario mundial están tan en desacuerdo con sus valores que uno debe preguntarse qué es lo que le sucede a este país. A partir del referéndum Brexit de junio del año 2016, la política exterior británica parece haber colapsado – e incluso haber renegado de su pasado y sus ideas rectoras.

Peor aún, esto ha coincidido con la aparición de la errática administración del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump, que persigue objetivos que están completamente desvinculados de los de Gran Bretaña – y, de aquellos de Europa en general. El abandono del acuerdo nuclear con Irán por parte de Trump, combinado con la beligerancia en ascenso del presidente ruso Vladimir Putin y las ambiciones crecientes del presidente chino Xi Jinping, indican que el mundo está entrando en una fase que, de manera constante y creciente, es más conflictiva y peligrosa.

La evidente falta de química personal entre Trump y la primera ministra británica Theresa May – y la anglofobia de su nuevo asesor de seguridad nacional, John Bolton – garantizaron que el presente momento nunca llegue a ser el mejor para el Reino Unido. Pero, tampoco es de ayuda que generaciones de políticos británicos expertos en política exterior se hayan considerado a sí mismos como antiguos griegos que estaban frente a una Roma estadounidense. Para un británico como yo, esta analogía siempre parecía encerrar demasiada confianza. Al haber vivido en Estados Unidos, pude guardar sospechas sobre que los líderes estadounidenses no prestaban atención a los consejos de los diplomáticos británicos en la gran medida que a dichos diplomáticos les gustaba pensar que lo hacían.

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 57 Comments on this article

Kien Choong Jul 17, 2018

Might I suggest that Britain should start appointing Indian (or South African) nationals (in consultation with the government of India or South Africa) as Britain's representative at the Security Council.

It would foster global democracy if Britain's seat at the Security Council is used to give the emerging world a bigger voice in global affairs.
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blacklagooninvestments Jul 5, 2018

Reading this article made myself chuckle - So Brexit is the end of the "world" for Great Britain ?

May I suggest that first of all Brussels, Berlin and Paris are using Brexit to sticky plaster all issues plaguing the EU and the Euro (a currency failing).

The people vote in Italy "won" and now there is a far right/left government in place, which has already "forced" France and Germany in one issue to bow their knees to Rome in regard of immigration. The next issue is the addition to a shadow currency to the Euro in Italy, as Brussels and the main two capitals have caved in to the demands from Rome; the powers in place in Rome now scent that they can force more demands through without any punishment.

Hungary, Poland and the other countries supporting them have denounced the demands from Brussels to bind to fiscal requirements, immigration guide lines and EU law requirements.

So we have now 6 out of 27 countries who are "showing their middle finger" to Brussels - add in a down turn to the Chinese economic system and spending we have a major fallout in Europe and the Euro zone. A fraction increase of interest rates paint a picture of years of poverty for Italy, spilling over to the French and German banks.

The main reason for all these articles that "Britain is no one", "Britain will be in debt for ever", "Britain will not get trade with anyone" is a simple factor formulated by a Mr Soros "Without the payments from Britain the dream of the EU is bust".

Ditto dear writer have you ever looked at who guarantees peace in Europe, it is not the EU as many claim, but NATO and its two largest members the USA and Great Britain. If as internal plans from the USA are correct a withdrawal of US troops from Europe can not be covered by Germany, France, Italy or anyone else as during the years from 1989 all these countries have slashed their military spending to next to nothing (Of the 128 Eurofighters Germany purchased 4 are able to fly, of the navy all main heavy ships are laid up since 3 years for repairs).

Even Switzerland with its' resources have a better military structure in place than Germany or Italy; given with the new upgrades to the Swiss air force and military they will be back to pre 1970 levels of defence whereas Germany is back to 1955 levels [nothing except old equipement from WWII].

Would it not be better when writing such articles to first read in the languages of the countries of Europe the press in their own languages (German, French, Italian, etc) and then reflect ? As these local and country printed press show us how many countries envy Britain for the step out of the EU and the bindings of the EU
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M M Jul 3, 2018

A good article from the author. The problem has always been "the wide gap" between the expectations of the people "being the electorate" and the ability or the competence (or the lack of it) of "the elected representatives". This applies EU wide and to many other countries around the world. Regarding the UK, the first problem is and should be to safeguard its unity, the unity within it and with its partners and this is extremely difficult to achieve with the current political system and leadership in the UK. The UK needs to go for a fresh general election where the Executive Body (being the government), a government that should be appointed by the major parties and based on merits only. This government must be totally independent from the Legislature (being the parliament who are the elected representatives) and by doing so creating checks and balances and full accountability to the "people " being the "electorate". The days of the EU as we now know it, are numbered, the pan- European elections in 2019, shall surprise big times!
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Douglas Leyendecker Jul 2, 2018

They have only themselves to blame for being sucked in to the European "regressive" policy world. It will take a while for the UK to pull itself back up but they have the spirit to do so. Just have to get rid of the Eurothink.
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John Alexander Jul 1, 2018

An agreeably sober article. It would appear that such sobriety is not a feature of the current UK government.
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Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018

Mr. Malloch Brown is a pro European with a left wing background and is wedded to a socialist Europe. Those with an education can prove that socialism has been nothing but a disaster unless you have an inexhaustible oil well from which to subsidise your vast (unsustainable) costs and the costs of thousands of immigrants wanting a bit of it.

The truth about the EU (in the last 40 years) is that it has diminished democracy; wrecked economic growth; undermined fiscal stability and threatened European security through the mad Shengen agreement. Added to that as a proportion of world trade it has fallen annually against the rest of the world, youth unemployment except for places like the UK have flat lined, and red tape has hampered industrial growth, whilst imports from non red tape bound nations like China has sky rocketed. Far from becoming a round table of 28 equally respect nations, we now have the Germany and France show - where decision making is basically handled by two nations to the exclusion of everyone else!!!

The EU stripped us (UK) of an even playing field, organised a massive subsidy fence so failing economies like France could have their failures hidden by UK cash and force us to continue to prop up the five chickens and two cow agricultural sector of France, whilst the UK have managed to reduce their reliance on subsidies, just as well as they dried up from Europe years ago. Bringing in majority voting where the takers out number the givers was a massive error of policy and a terrifying prospect for any nation that still has some cash in its bank account!!!!!!

The EU has got nothing to offer British workers. As a leftie and (presumably) a Labour supporter surely Mr Malloch Brown supporting the living wage of the working people of the UK should be a priority of yours???? That won't happen with free flow of low skilled labour making a beeline to the UK ......and no ability to stop it. The UK has suffered badly from over population and a massive influx of freeloading economic migrants, millions in fact (four million) trying to escape Europe and the poverty of the failed socialist Eastern European experiment. Now even my children can't afford a home or an education thanks to Labour policies which wrecked our society.

Not content with supporting the socialist disaster in the EU the author wants to see further damage to the UK. Frankly, the UK has had enough. Enough lies; enough false promises; enough of having our democracy undermined and side lined and enough of being lectured to by failed socialist politicos, who have nearly bankrupted the UK on a number of occasions with their fanciful ideas and failed economics. How much failure do you need to endure to accept socialism isn't going to work - not ever - even China and Russia (FGS) have given up with it - why do the tired old lefties from the UK keep coming out with the same old rhetoric???

Accept British democracy has triumphed, accept that the vote was legal and (contrary to your deluded complaints) the British did know what they were voting for, they were voting for an end to EU failure and an end to having fools and drunks like Barnier and Junker trying to run the economies of 28 countries when they can't even manage their own expense account.

Leave means leave and the UK will be better for it, who knows, maybe the EU will also wake up and go back to the EEC which they should never have left.
- Travis Zly Jul 3, 2018
  
  Excellent comment.
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- John Ellis Jul 1, 2018
  
  Er...social democracy is essentially the prevailing system across Europe. In Britain the NHS was created by the Labour (aka Socialist) along with a host of other programs. Are the Conservatives going to destroy the NHS? Not really.
  
  This is mostly a pack of lies about the EU. Barnier is a fool? So why is he running rings around the British? LOL
  - Travis Zly Jul 3, 2018
    
    17 million unemployed in the EU; Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus totally bankrupt and France in trouble; National sovereignty of Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria under attack by Brussels; EU economy flatlining; European Central Bank pumping €60 billion per month of freshly printed money at zero percent into the Eurosystem to try and keep it afloat. Europe is collapsing. Anyone who wants Britain to remain a part of the EU is deluded. The privatisation of the NHS is used as a dog whistle by socialists to deflect attention away from the litany of failures that have prompted Britons to turn their backs on the EU.
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  - Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
    
    Actually not, offshoring is a feature of the UK financial services and it can be easily done in Europe as it can across the world as has been widely agreed, the so called massive job losses in the City were wildly overstated and can be easily dealt with via technology and a locally sited office. Oddly the Dusseldorf Stock Exchange appears to be handled by a man in a room - as my daughter saw on a visit ;) ! Also with the huge balance of payment deficit with the EU offering our business to the rest of the world at a lower cost makes a hell of a lot of sense.
    
    The Anglosphere is far more interesting then the EU - how the EI will get on without our cash or our security services (or our custom) is actually the moot point.
    
    We have no fear about Brexit, bring it on we just cannot wait!!!
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Douglas Costello Jul 1, 2018

The Return of the Luddites. Interesting too how the Nation has En mass become delusional over a fantasy.
- Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
  
  An Irish view..naturally ;)
  - John Ellis Jul 1, 2018
    
    Actually it's the general view outside Britain. The fact is the British desperately need to remain in the CU and the single market to protect your manufacturing and financial services industries.
    - Christine Constable Jul 29, 2018
      
      Ireland has far more to lose than the UK. The vast number of companies in the UK are small businesses - yes large businesses often owned by foreign countries may have an issue with it, but with more product being manufactured in the home market and also opening our doors to the 80% of world trade who will take up the slack as we leave the EU will see Ireland in particular slaughtered economically, and UK production sky rocket - just what we hoped to see would happen. ;) Can't wait for a No Deal!
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Michael Parsons Jul 1, 2018

By 1914 Britain was on the verge of civil war. Unions were stronger, the Lords had at last been curbed, welfare of the many was at last being taken seriously, with some attempts to undo the massive theft of land from the English people perpetrated by Parliament as 'enclosures', a class-ridden Britain had lost its technical superiority and abiity to provide even basics for itself.In 1914 the ruling class lost its nerve, and declared pyrrhic war, signalling end of Britain's world-wide role, but not perfidious Albion's degenerate Churchillian delusions. The political need now is to live temperately, see to our small-nation survival as the desiarble footnote it is, above all avoid ties to the USA and so avoid replaying the fate of Austria's post-1918 dependency on Germany.
"But a Europe without Britain’s traditional leadership, judgment, and diplomacy will be a lesser Europe" is a phrase that encapsulates the delusions and misconceptions of our failed ruliing class perfectly, since in fact our role in Europe has always been (and now is) to challenge any unification under a currently dominant Euroean power. -France, Spain Germany or whatever; which we pursued successfully generally with Russia's help.
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Robert Merrifield Jul 1, 2018

It would be useful to read the authors prediction of where the UK might sit in forty years were it to stay in the EU. In theory as a result of ever closer union would the UK have a voice at all or would it by then just be the voice of the northwest EU?

Trading global influence for sovereignty looks cheap with so many at war trying to get theirs back.
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kalarickal Fabian Jul 1, 2018

Brilliant and clinically accurate.
We are witnessing the end of Great Britain by suicide.
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John Ellis Jul 1, 2018

Largely true. Britain for historical and current economic and cultural reasons was always able to punch a little above their weight. Nowhere near as much as the British fondly deluded themselves but there was a small British premium. This and the exaggerated delusions have been completely shattered by the Brexit debacle where 2 years after the referendum and 15 months after invoking Article 50 the British are still squabbling among themselves about what their future relationship with the EU which looks on with mild bemusement.

It was always going to be like this because contrary to British beliefs the EU is holding all the cards. The recent noise from British industry voices like Airbus and BMW (who are starting to panic because of the danger of a crash out) encapsulates the economic threat that could wreck the British economy. Simply put many major volume production industries like autos cannot function efficiently in a JIT manufacturing environment without free and frictionless movement of components. And about half the components going into British made cars come from Europe and the size of the British auto industry (about 1.65 million units a year) is simply not large enough to support a full scale upstream auto parts industry. The EU ex UK produces 18.5 cars and can.

British manufacturing employs about 3 million people and creates 13% of their GDP. Forget the British bluster they desperately need to stay in the CU and single market. And there's the rub.
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Richard Seifman Jul 1, 2018

Not mentioned is that the U.K. is among the five largest arms sellers, along with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council. This has other implications for the degree to which its values are supported by actions. Further,more the multilateral institutions created in the mid-to-late 1940s, the UN in San Francisco and the IMF and World Bank at Bretton Woods--where John Maynard Keynes was a towering figure-and in Geneva with creation of the World Health Organization, were all led and shaped principally by the U.S. and U.K. These were the leaders of what can be described as the old "West". The twenty-first century is a different place. There needs to be a mechanism for the new "East' to have a full seat at the table in shaping the global system for the next 25 years.
- Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
  
  The UK is also one of the biggest aid givers and a top ten world economy that has spent far too much of its money helping the helpess. Now the UK must concentrate on sorting its own backyard just like the US. Toom much taken for granted and too badly exploited.
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Jonathan Engel Jul 1, 2018

While Britain is clearly thrashing around in the Brexit negotiations, it is increasingly clear that the decision itself was a prescient one. In today's world, where Italy is finally coming round to the realisation that the adherence to a Deutschmark system (relabelled as "Euroland") was a disaster, and that the country's richer northern neighbours had, and continue to have, only their own interests in mind in the management of the catastrophic migrant influx, the EU may be a less than placid place to be.

The pending Italian banking crisis :"too big to fail, too big to save" could carry away the Deutsche Euro in its wake, and leave at least a trillion Euro asset write down (and perhaps much more, if corporate debt is taken into account)

What is clear is that while the EEC was a proven concept, the EU was a bridge too far. This bridge which the Brussels bureaucracy implemented even after the referenda in France and Holland turned down the idea.

The Great British Public would not, IMHO, have turned down membership of a European trading area, the advantages of which are obvious. The supranational dimension glued onto the EEC, with its "standards", with its Law superseding British Law, with its interference with British trade in centralised decision making, with its majority voting allowing foreign interest groups to relegate Parliament's role for which the nation has fought for centuries was a dimension which the UK should have refused when it was presented.
- John Ellis Jul 1, 2018
  
  You really need to move out of fantasy land. The new Italian government is running away from it's anti Euro rhetoric as fast as it legs can carry it. They're now picking on someone their size. Helpless immigrants.
  - Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
    
    You are the deluded one. The EU has (frankly) nothing to offer, it has failed to deliver economic growth, fiscal stability and security. Under the EU we live in a more dangerous world with corrupt and ignorant people most of whom are unelected by the people and impossible to sack.
    - John Ellis Jul 1, 2018
      
      I suggest you look at the growth rates of the original six signatories of the treaty of Rome and the joiners since like Ireland, Spain, Poland et al. because you clearly have no idea what you are talking about. All experienced dramatic improvements in their growth rates after joining. As for fiscal stability are you seriously suggesting the Lira or Drachma were more stable than the Euro? One of the main benefits of the Euro is the stability it has offered to those countries like Italy, Greece, Portugal with notoriously unstable currencies. It's one of the reasons (there are at least four others... could name any of them?) why none of them wish to leave the Euro which is now the world's second reserve currency used by about 350 million people every day and Britain is panicking at the loss of Euro denominated clearing.
      - Jonathan Engel Jul 1, 2018
        
        Well Mr Ellis, I suggest you revise your base line, and perhaps address the issue which I raised, looking at the Italian economy since the Euro Deutschmark was imposed on what was the highest growth economy in Europe ... I cannot see how an economist, even a left wing economist, can accept that a banking sector with non performing loans at around 20% of assets is not in very very deep trouble. Of course now Italy is such a much better tax collector that more orthodox European bureaucrats, used to living with slow growth, and red tape (which people accept to comply with, unlike the Italy of 'yore') feel comfy.
        
        Luckily the Brexit argument has been settled by the Great British Public, and the Government has only been tasked with sorting out the details.
        
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      - Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
        
        Take a reality check and look at the legitimate Reports, I fear you are living in a dream world. Fact Check: https://fullfact.org/europe/eu-has-shrunk-percentage-world-economy/
        
        Truth is the EU has hamstring itself by sealing too few world trade deals and putting up barriers to competition. FACT!
        
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Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018

It may take 5 or more years to digest and overcome the immediate negative effects of Brexit. But, beyond that, Britain maybe glad they left the endless turmoil on the continent about the EU. It is quite possible that in 10 years time the then remaining members will have realized that they need a very different, confederate, union of sovereign states with a focus on effectiveness and efficiency of everything they do jointly. In a well-structured union the sum of the joint accomplishments can indeed be more than the sum of its parts.
- Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
  
  Sadly the arrogance and virtue signalling of people like Junker and Barnier will have blown the EU out of the water. Quite unnecessarily of course, when working with the UK to change the EU into a workable model will have long past its sell by date.
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- colcazzo Jun 27, 2018
  
  1) 5 years of negative effects is ludicrously optimistic: the UK has just spent two years since the vote to negotiate and achieve absolutely nothing! In economic terms it will be suffering the effects for more than my lifetime and much more than the lifetime of a substantial proportion of those who voted to Leave.
  2) You suggest that this is worthwhile because Britain eventually "*maybe* glad" because it is "quite possible" that in a decade or more remaining members may decide on better ways to achieve their joint goals. So what? So the EU may eventually change or find better modes of governance?
  What, specifically, is the advantage to the UK of entirely losing its influence over that process (because you can be sure that it will not be unaffected itself by developments in its neighbourhood giant)?
  
  Let's try a far simpler and more concrete issue: the UK s currently a leading player in making the laws and regulations of of the richest market on the planet, which accounts for roughly half of its trade. A few months from now it will have lost that privilege: what is the massive benefit it expects to gain in return? Every single credible forecast of the economic effects lies in the rage painful to catastrophic, and the loss of soft power and influence is already tangible.
  
  The simple fact is that there is no real or urgent problem facing the UK to which the solution begins with, "Let's leave the EU," with the sole exception that a generation of inadequate, incompetent and incontinent leaders has allowed its polity to be thrown into a frenzied and childish tantrum; and even this is set to be exacerbated rather than salved by Brexit.
  - Christine Constable Jul 3, 2018
    
    Sorry facts wrong:
    
    UK Manufacturing UP
    Employment - highest on record
    
    I am sure Italy would like some of that, perhaps it too should get a backbone and leave!
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  - Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
    
    Utter rubbish, the EU is terrified that what will happen is that Britain thrives, and others realise that being a slave to Brussels is not required they can join the rest of the world and thrive like them.
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  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    - Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
      
      A wise head, all the more staggering that people like Merkel and Barnier are not doing more to instil trust. Fact is a negative exit from the EU will create a destabilising country on their doorstep with no chance of ever rejoining. The choice is theirs. Given the billions the UK has given to the EU and having saved Europe with AMerica in the last century you would think the EU would be only grateful to come up with a better offer than the insults and threats we have had to put up with. All Barnier and his ilk have done is confirmed in the minds of millions here and across Europe, that Brussels is a thoroughly loathesome creation full of totally loathesome unaccountable and corrupt people.
      - John Ellis Jul 1, 2018
        
        The general tenor of your comment can be allowed to speak for itself as guide to the quality of your judgment.
        
        Christine Constable Jul 3, 2018
        
        The British love Europe, but absolutely despise the Brussels elite. A bit like Christianity, love the religion, but hate the self important, corrupt and manipulating structures that make everyone's life a misery.
        
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  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
    A new reply to this comment has been posted.
  - Bernhard Kopp Jun 27, 2018
    
    Well, a good number of continentals are quite hopeful that the EU, in whatever constitutional and institutional set-up, could, seriously regain the trust of the British so that Britain would rejoin, in 10 or more years. Until then, Britain will not have a seat at one of the tables in Brussels, but Britain will continue to have considerable influence on individual countries, and on the EU. Britain is not a small country like Switzerland or Norway. Also, its geopolitical, military, economic and cultural weight will not disappear. Britain will not 'leave' Europe.
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jagjeet sinha Jun 27, 2018

1800 million @ PLANETENGLISH
The Assets that The Anglosphere possesses have been diminished in the EU.
Every Ace has been finessed by Brussels - Britain is boxed in.
The value of every asset is marginalised - while Brussels keeps rising in value.
Britain created The Anglosphere as a result of the First Brexit - despite Europe.
In eschewing The Anglosphere, when Britain joined EEC, Britain threw its Ace.
One Language triumphed over One Religion over 500 years.
1800 million members if PLANETENGLISH is an Asset that is priceless.
The Anglosphere is Britain's biggest Ace.
- Robert Coleman Jul 3, 2018
  
  Language preference has a political basis. By adopting illiberal laws and foreign policies, English-speaking countries are reducing their popularity in the world and with that, their power. Acting superior to others is not a way to win hearts and minds; particularly when you so obviously are NOT superior.
  
  I am bilingual in French and English. Were it possible for me not to use English again, I think I would be quite close at present to making that decision. It isn't that I hate. It is a matter or preference and I think I'd rather not. I am a political person and I don't like what is on offer in English much. You can see this force of preference acting on Britain now, just 18 months after the referendum. Young Europeans who flocked to Britain, and especially London, for fashion and music are not as interested as they once were. People don't generally fall in love with cultures that reject them. Where English is spoken, it is a vehicular language in many places and nothing more. Americans who know the UK well do not always have positive impressions of the people and the country. Just because the British and Americans both speak English doesn't mean they necessarily have a great deal in common. English speakers have a historic legacy of linguistic power, it is being squandered now. The in-fighting and general nastiness on display in out political leaders is indicative of a collapse to some degree, in our presumption of world leadership.
  
  Britain loved India and Pakistan as colonies. It doesn't love the thought of them as equal powers and it will be a long time before it does. Please take off your rose-coloured glasses.
  - jagjeet sinha Jul 4, 2018
    
    Thanks Robert.
    IMHO, the difference between America plus Australia Britain Canada on the one hand and France Italy Spain Germany is One Language.
    Both Europe and India suffer from the disadvantages of the absence of One Language. Because One Language is more Inclusive than One Religion or One Race. India is actually United by the English language - unlike China that succeeded in making Mandarin it's One Language
    The Marginalization of The Anglosphere is due to the centennial European ambush - the target used to be Britain, now it is America, in 100 years it will be The Anglosphere. If The Anglosphere Union does not confront the European Union, it will be progressively marginalised by Brussels.
    President Trump is right in viewing Europe's Unionization as being designed to play The Anglosphere like a fiddle & Rob it's piggy bank. European reconstruction after 1945 was underwritten by The Anglosphere - yet Europe misses no opportunity to spite the hand that feeds. Trump rightly views NATO as being nearly as bad as NAFTA. To allow Mexico to hijack the agenda and determine your Migration policy Trade policy Security policy - is exactly what Brussels does.
    Hope you can see why I like my rose coloured glasses.
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Ariel Tejera Jun 26, 2018

Well, it is still a revelation that Tony Blair strongly (but discreetly) advised Bush to invade Iraq.
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j. von Hettlingen Jun 25, 2018

Mark Malloch-Brown says Brexit has plunged Britain into uncertainty and “significantly” diminished its global influence. Two years on, the aspiration of prominent Brexiters like Boris Johnson to make Britain a “great global player,” and to launch their concept of the vast “Anglosphere” – a quasi resurrection of the old imperial order – with Britain at its helm, “has become a comical delusion.”
Instead of reshaping Britain’s global profile and identity, its foreign policy is now in complete disarray. The timing of its collapse could not have been more unfortunate, given the crises that dog the EU, America’s disinterest in upholding the international order it once created, a rising China, a belligerent Russia etc. Britain used to “punch above its weight” on the world stage and would have been to make an impact globally. Yet the government is being engulfed by a chaotic Brexit and there is little interest for what is happening beyond the country’s borders.
What upsets the author is Theresa May’s “embrace of ‘Britain First’ mercantilism, under which arms sales to Saudi Arabia are not a matter for caution, but rather an opportunity for profit.” Britain is home of the Magna Carta, although it needs to trade for economic reasons, it must not put “trade and investment before human rights and good governance,” neglecting its obligations to improve human rights in its partner countries, whose insidious persecution of journalists, opposition leaders, civil rights activists had led to the many multi-layered conflicts across the Middle East. “By retreating from liberal norms, the May government has become, like the Trump administration, an enabler of authoritarian behaviors around the world.”
Leaving the EU, Brexiters can not say, Europe is not their business. The Continent now has two populist autocrats, Erdogan and Putin, across its eastern frontier. They are matched by similar illiberal leaders in Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic etc. Britain may be geographically separated from Europe. But Churchill’s 1945 warning of “an iron curtain” that had descended across Eastern Europe, comes back to haunt the Continent. Instead of Soviet Communism, the threat is posed by populist autocracy.
The author says, Russia had in recent years been engaged in clandestine activities in Britain, because it sees the country as a “weak link” in Western Europe. The Kremlin is alleged to be responsible for the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and the Skripals in March 2018. It may just be a matter of time before Putin “probes British weakness again.” Britain could have been able to retaliate more effectively, had May’s government not turned a blind eye to laundering of Russian money, and have more courage to freeze the assets of these immensely rich oligarchs.
Russia is said to have influenced the 2016 Brexit vote, and it may be “suicidal” for Britain to leave the EU, “with fewer tools to combat Russian meddling in its affairs. Britain is losing its influence over EU cybersecurity and energy policies just as cyber warfare and energy geopolitics are becoming key fronts for hostile state and non-state actors.”
Embracing free trade, Britain is looking for business partners across the globe, as it seeks to deliver – to provide for prosperity and security. It remains to be seen whether this objective is attainable. Successful trade deals rely on diplomatic acumen, which is in short supply under Boris Johnson.
The author says, “the global re-balancing between the US and China is a generational challenge that will outlast Trump and even Xi, who is now unbound by term limits. In an increasingly off-kilter world, the duty will fall to Europe to serve as ballast. But a Europe without Britain’s traditional leadership, judgment, and diplomacy will be a lesser Europe. And Britain, by its own hand, risks being reduced to a footnote.”
Neither Britain nor the EU can afford to sleepwalk into a possible war, waged by autocratic warmongers, who seek to distract their own citizens from their failure to provide for better livelihoods.
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Peter Schaeffer Jun 25, 2018

"In an increasingly off-kilter world, the duty will fall to Europe to serve as ballast". Europe is falling behind in everything... Save for preening arrogance, virtue signaling, and pretensions of moral supremacy.

Does anyone in the world really care about the views of a bunch of countries that can't (won't) even defend their own borders? In China they have a world for the types of people who run Europe. The word is "Baizuo".

From Wikipedia. Literally "White left(ies)" is a derogatory Chinese epithet that came into being in the middle 2010s. The word received attention in Germany where it was seen as criticizing the immigration policies of Angela Merkel. Baizuo is used as an insult amongst Chinese netizens.
- Christine Constable Jul 1, 2018
  
  Hear hear!
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Peter Schaeffer Jun 25, 2018

Of course, the UK's global influence has declined. The UK was the dominant power of the 19th century, and inevitably as other nations developed, the UK's influence declined. It's called gravity and it is inevitable. Same holds for the USA of course.

The dominant rising powers of our time are China, India, Russia, etc. All have decisively rejected liberalism and appear to be have gained accordingly. As long as liberalism leads to failure (as in Europe and the USA) and authoritarianism leads to success, the world will move away from liberalism.

What the authors are really saying is that the UK should sacrifice the interests of the British people to maintain some long-dead fantasy about the UK's role in world. That dumb and obviously a bad idea. The leaders of the UK should be focused on making the UK great, not pretending that Global Britain still exists.
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R. Pablo Guerrero O. Jun 25, 2018

I find this piece quite naive. Just as in commerce and trade there have been massive disruptions in the past decade that have generally improved wellbeing for millions of people, so present political disruptions are going to lead to stronger alliances and a more peaceful world - one that has not been experienced in the past decade. So it is time to embrace change not fight it.
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Per Kurowski Jun 25, 2018

“The United Kingdom's global influence has been significantly diminished” Ok, but tell us which country has seen its global influence really significantly increased? Aren’t we now just seeing a generalized global disorder?
- P. Kamath Jun 27, 2018
  
  Sir: It is true go along dominance of Great Britain has greatly diminished. It has been so since the end of WWII. Keeping aside it's unfortunate unpleasant history of colonialism, racism, etc, It has accumulated and developed a wonderful wealth of culture, scientific, industrial , business, educational achievements over many centuries
  - P. Kamath Jun 27, 2018
    
    Contd... and it's contributions to other societies are immense. So let us not write off its future global role. Thoughtful men around the world will look at Great Britain beyond simple economic prism!
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- John Brian Shannon Jun 25, 2018
  
  Hi Per,
  
  Always happy to read your comments. And I agree.
  
  I would add that geopolitics is presently undergoing some creative destruction, there will be winners and there will be losers.
  
  Too bad the global elites only cared about themselves and not the bottom-two economic quintiles, who, at least in part, got Trump, Orban, Recep, Duda, and Kurz elected.
  
  Had the 'elites' cared more about those who slipped through globalization's cracks than they did about lucre, they would still be ruling the world.
  
  Now they write whiny articles complaining about things like democracy, the rights of various peoples to self-determination, and bad 'ol [place their favorite bad guy's name here]
  
  Yet, the global economy remains strong and people are increasingly free to join or leave customs or trade agreements that don't work for them (although those same agreements might work very well for other countries -- and more power to them if it works for them!)
  
  The simple fact is, in a democracy, the people are always right.
  
  Whether there are some economic or other costs to be borne by voters, they seem fine with it. The very essence of democracy!
  
  As always, very best regards, JBS
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