During the EU referendum campaign Barack Obama warned that Brexit put Britain at risk of relegation as a global trading power. Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, hit back, attributing the US president’s view to “ancestral” dislike of the UK, rooted in “part-Kenyan” heritage. It is not unusual for British politicians to resent being reminded of their country’s junior status in relations with the US (although most manage to express that frustration without nasty racial insinuations). There is no symmetry of clout in the “special relationship”. One side is a superpower, the other is not. Inability to grasp that disparity is a weakness among Eurosceptics. » | Editorial | Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Thursday, August 08, 2019
The Guardian View on British Foreign Policy: The Lost Art of Diplomacy
During the EU referendum campaign Barack Obama warned that Brexit put Britain at risk of relegation as a global trading power. Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, hit back, attributing the US president’s view to “ancestral” dislike of the UK, rooted in “part-Kenyan” heritage. It is not unusual for British politicians to resent being reminded of their country’s junior status in relations with the US (although most manage to express that frustration without nasty racial insinuations). There is no symmetry of clout in the “special relationship”. One side is a superpower, the other is not. Inability to grasp that disparity is a weakness among Eurosceptics. » | Editorial | Wednesday, August 7, 2019
