THE GUARDIAN: If the US no longer stands as an inspirational model for the world, where does that leave those who defer to it?
Ever since the pioneeringKennedy-Nixon encounter in 1960, the questions that political journalists pose after US presidential debates have been the same. Who performed best? Who had the better of this or that part of the argument? Who exceeded expectations or fell short? Who had the best lines and delivered the best zinger? And has any of it changed the election odds?
They are still being asked after the first televised match-up between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. With five weeks to go before the US votes, the questions still matter. But after Tuesday’s verbal roughhouse they also feel crowded out by other uncertainties that seem more epochal, more dystopian and more pressing, not least when seen from this side of the Atlantic.
It can seem overblown, but it now makes sense to ask if America is on the edge of becoming ungovernable, or if the rule of impartial law enforcement still commands respect. It is also possible, in ways that were not true in the past, to consider whether the US can be relied on internationally, and whether it is realistic to continue to regard it as an ally. But if it is not an ally, what follows from that? The answers are increasingly uncomfortable.
Perhaps most potently, it has to be asked whether America, with all its fabulous energy, wealth, liberty and ambition, still offers the inspirational model to the world that it did to so many, for so long. Or instead is today’s America, defined increasingly by its inequalities, violence, fundamentalism and racism, becoming a model to be rejected, to be guarded against and even, in some cases, to be resisted? » | Martin Kettle | Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Showing posts with label special relationship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label special relationship. Show all posts
Thursday, October 01, 2020
Friday, July 13, 2018
US - UK: What Now for the 'Special Relationship'? | Inside Story
Arriving straight from a NATO summit that was predictably contentious, the US president has been greeted with massive protests on his first trip to London since taking office. And, as May struggles to hold her own government together, with the never-ending arguments about Brexit negotiations, threatening to tear her Conservative party apart. Only hours after arriving, Trump made the prime minister's life even more difficult, with scathing criticism of her in a newspaper interview. And he went out of his way to talk up one of her main rivals, Boris Johnson, who resigned earlier this week as Foreign Secretary.
Trump said May's in trouble because she ignored his advice on both Brexit and migration. And he thinks Johnson would make a great prime minister. Aside from being an epic breach of both diplomatic protocol and simple manners, Trump's interview brought other questions into sharp relief: Can May survive if Brexit no longer holds the promise of a separate trade agreement with the United States? Can NATO survive the additional strain of a rift between its two top military contributors? And, what about the so-called "special relationship" that supposedly links the British and American governments?
Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Ian Dunt - Editor, Politics.co.uk; Inderjeet Parmar - Professor of International Politics, City University of London; Robert Hunter - Former US Ambassador to NATO
Saturday, January 28, 2017
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
MAIL ONLINE: Barack Obama has declared that France is America’s greatest ally, undermining Britain’s Special Relationship with the U.S.
The President risked offending British troops in Afghanistan by saying that French president Nicolas Sarkozy is a ‘stronger friend’ than David Cameron.
The remarks, during a White House appearance with Mr Sarkozy, will reinforce the widely-held view in British diplomatic circles that Mr Obama has less interest in the Special Relationship than any other recent American leader.
Mr Obama said: 'We don’t have a stronger friend and stronger ally than Nicolas Sarkozy, and the French people.'
The comments follow a pattern of coldness towards the UK. When Gordon Brown was prime minister, Mr Obama snubbed his requests for meetings in the U.S.
He also denounced Britain during his inauguration speech.
The UK has lost nearly 350 troops in the war against the Taliban – seven times as many as France.
And there are more than 10,000 British soldiers serving in Helmand province, compared with just 3,850 Frenchmen.Mr Obama's stance was swiftly condemned in Westminster. >>> Tim Shipman | Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, March 28, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: British politicians should be "less deferential" towards the United States and more willing to say no, an influential group of MPs urges in a report.
The Foreign Affairs Committee says it is time to reconsider the term "the special relationship", which it complains is overused by politicians and the media, serving "simultaneously to devalue its meaning and to raise unrealistic expectations about the benefits the relationship can deliver to the UK."
Instead, the MPs conclude, Britain should acknowledge that it has "a" special relationship with the US - as do other American allies, partners and regional neighbours.
Britain should adopt "a hard-headed political approach to the relationship and a realistic sense of the UK's limits", and not always assume that America's priorities coincide with Britain's, say the MPs.
"British and European politicians have been guilty of over-optimism about the extent of influence they have over the US," said Mike Gapes, chairman of the committee.
"Certainly the UK must continue to position itself closely alongside the US but there is a need to be less deferential and more willing to say no where our interests diverge."
He added: "The extent of political influence which the UK has exercised on US decision-making as a consequence of its military commitments is likely to diminish. Over the longer-term the UK is unlikely to be able to influence the US to the extent it has in the past."
The 14-member, cross-party committee says that the perception after the Iraq War that the UK was a "poodle" to America's wishes was highly damaging, and reported dissatisfaction among American generals over the capabilities of British forces gives "cause for concern". >>> Harriet Alexander, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
TIMES ONLINE: Washington refused to endorse British claims to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands yesterday as the diplomatic row over oil drilling in the South Atlantic intensified in London, Buenos Aires and at the UN.
Despite Britain’s close alliance with the US, the Obama Administration is determined not to be drawn into the issue. It has also declined to back Britain’s claim that oil exploration near the islands is sanctioned by international law, saying that the dispute is strictly a bilateral issue. US refuses to endorse British sovereignty in Falklands oil dispute >>> Giles Whittell, Washington and James Bone, New York | Thursday, February 25, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: It was a headline I never expected to read: “US refuses to endorse British sovereignty in Falklands oil dispute.” Washington has declined to back Britain in its dispute with Argentina over drilling rights in the waters surrounding the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands. President Obama’s position is one of strict neutrality, refusing to take sides. According to the State Department:
We are aware not only of the current situation but also of the history, but our position remains one of neutrality. The US recognises de facto UK administration of the islands but takes no position on the sovereignty claims of either party.Has it come to this? Tony Blair sacrificed his political career and jeopardised Britain’s international standing by making common cause with America in the War on Terror. No matter how often he claims it was because he believed it was “the right thing to do”, we all know what was really going on in his head. He simply didn’t want to break ranks with the United States. The Atlantic alliance has been the cornerstone of British foreign policy since 1941, when Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt joined forces against the Axis powers. Dean Acheson may have declared that Britain had lost an empire and yet to find a role, but successive British Prime Ministers have know[n] what their role is and, by and large, it has been to stand shoulder to shoulder with America, presenting a united front in a series of global conflicts, from the Cold War to the Gulf.
It is not just cynical realpolitik. Our two nations have more in common with each other than they do with anyone else. We share a belief in liberal democracy, in freedom, and it is largely thanks to our willingness to commit ourselves to the defence of those ideals that the world has not been engulfed by fascism, communism or Islamofascism.
For this alliance to survive, both countries must recognise their obligations and, from time to time, that involves one of us setting aside more localised concerns for the sake of the cause. Tony Blair would have preferred it if President Bush had been prepared to wait for a second UN resolution before launching the invasion of Iraq, but he decided that Britain should follow America into battle nevertheless. He recognised that the preservation of the Atlantic alliance had to be prioritised above all else, both for our sake and the sake of the world. Read on and comment >>> Toby Young | Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, September 24, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Gordon Brown has been snubbed repeatedly by Barack Obama during his trip to the United States, as the fall-out from the release of the Lockerbie bomber appeared to have left "the special relationship" at its lowest ebb for nearly 20 years.
British officials made five attempts to secure official talks with the US President and even agreed to a policy change in an attempt to land a joint appearance between the two leaders, said diplomatic sources.
But the White House rebuffed the offers and Mr Brown, who had hoped to increase his popularity by appearing on his own with Mr Obama, had to settle instead for a snatched conversation with the President in a New York kitchen.
The setbacks led to fears that relations between Downing Street and the White House were at their lowest point since John Major's frosty dealings with Bill Clinton.
It was disclosed earlier this week that Mr Brown would not hold bilateral talks with Mr Obama, despite the President hosting individual meetings with the leaders of Japan, China and Russia. Downing Street claimed that this was not unusual.
However, a British diplomat told The Daily Telegraph that the White House's refusal to meet Mr Brown had been a serious embarrassment for the Prime Minister.
"It is wrong for people to say that we have been relaxed about the way things have gone," the source said. "There were five attempts to set up a meeting and none have come off." >>> Andrew Porter, Political Editor in New York | Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
MAIL ONLINE: Libyan doctors are to be trained by the NHS following an agreement signed by a Cabinet minister with Colonel Gaddafi's regime weeks before the release of the Lockerbie bomber, it emerged today.
The agreement is the latest in a series of moves to normalise relations between Britain and the north African state, which was an international pariah for years after being blamed for the 1988 bombing of PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
But the Department of Health dismissed as "nonsense" suggestions that the agreement had any link with the recent release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi or trade deals with the oil-rich regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed by former Health Secretary Alan Johnson in spring 2008, Libyan medical staff will be able to get a year's instruction in Britain.
Training opportunities will be available in the UK for Libyan medical staff in areas such as intensive care, anaesthetics and endoscopy, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, the Evening Standard reported.
Links have also been formed between London's Moorfields Eye Hospital and the main eye hospital in Libyan capital Tripoli.
The agreement was later discussed in a visit to Libya by then health minister Dawn Primarolo and was raised again when Mr Johnson's successor Andy Burnham met health minister Mohamed Hijazi during a trip to the country on constituency business earlier this year, said the Department. >>> | Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: The conviction of three home-grown al-Qaeda terrorists who conspired to blow up seven transatlantic flights from the UK to the US and Canada underscores the savage and brutal nature of the enemy we are facing. The would-be Muslim suicide bombers planned to carry out the biggest terrorist atrocity since 9/11, which if executed would have claimed the lives of thousands of Britons and Americans. It would have been a mass slaughter of men, women and children by evil and barbaric fundamentalists driven by a belief in militant Islam and an intense hatred of the Judeo-Christian world and the values of liberty and freedom that underpin it.
The attempted airline terror attacks are a stark reminder that the West, and Britain and the United States in particular, is engaged in a global war against an Islamist enemy that seeks its destruction. These al-Qaeda operatives and their terror masters who planned to bring carnage to the skies over the Atlantic, targeted the Anglo-American alliance because it represents the central bulwark in the defence of the free world. It is no coincidence that al-Qaeda did not attempt to bomb flights out of Paris, Brussels or Berlin. They chose targets that symbolized the Special Relationship between their greatest enemies – the US and the UK, the two nations who are bearing the overwhelming burden in both blood and treasure in the battle to defeat Islamist terrorism.
These latest convictions at Woolwich Crown Court followed the successful conviction last year of the Muslim fanatic Mohammed Hamid – dubbed “Osama bin London” - who ran a series of British terror training camps. Unfortunately they represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the scale of the British-based terrorist threat. According to MI5 there are over 2,000 known terrorist suspects in the UK, with up to 200 terror networks in operation. There have been at least 15 major attempted terrorist attacks in Britain since 9/11, with over 1,200 terrorism-related arrests. >>> Nile Gardiner* | Monday, September 07, 2009
*Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. He appears frequently on American and British television and radio, including Fox News Channel, CNN, BBC, Sky News, and NPR.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
So, the day has come when Libya now has to defend the United Kingdom against its American critics!
Gordon Brown and his merry band of crooks have severed our once glorious special relationship with the US and traded it in for a ‘special relationship’ with a tinpot dictator! Why? Because there’s money to be made. Oil money. Big money.
Not only is this as absurd as it is dangerous, but it also signifies a significant shift towards the realisation of Eurabia. Remember this: Gaddafi has made no secret of the fact that he wants Islam to take over Europe. Alas, we have got into bed with vipers! And Gordon Brown and his profiteering cronies have fallen for the ruse hook, line, and sinker! – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: A top Libyan official once expelled from Britain for plotting the deaths of exiled dissidents rode to the defence of the British Government over Lockerbie yesterday.
In one of the few interviews he has given, Musa Kusa, the Libyan Foreign Minister and long-time member of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s inner circle, told The Times that he was astonished by the controversy over the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber.
“Where is the human rights, the compassion and mercy? The man is on the verge of death,” Mr Kusa said in a midnight conversation in his plush, chilled office in the centre of baking Tripoli.
He flatly denied any link between al-Megrahi’s release and British commercial interests in his oil-rich state and said that Libya was grateful to the British and Scottish governments for their humanity. “You should not do an injustice to the British Government. It was nothing to do with trade,” he said. “If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago.”
Mr Musa, likewise, said that the row over al-Megrahi’s rapturous reception at Tripoli airport was the result of a cultural misunderstanding: such greetings were a Libyan custom. “I can’t say to [al-Megrahi’s] friends and tribe, ‘Don’t go there’,” he said. Not one Libyan official went to the airport, he added, and the reception was, by Libyan standards, “low key”.
He emphasised that Libya was eager to strengthen its relationship with Britain despite the present friction.
Mr Kusa, the Libyan foreign intelligence chief for 15 years before becoming Foreign Minister, is the embodiment of his country’s transition from rogue state to something approaching international respectability.
In 1980, when he was head of the Libyan diplomatic mission in London, he was expelled from Britain for allegedly organising the killing of exiled opponents of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime. In later years he was accused of complicity in the 1998 Lockerbie bombing, the destruction of a French airliner over Niger in 1989, the Berlin disco bombing that led to the US bombing of Tripoli in 1986 and much else besides. He was high on the British and US terrorism blacklists.
Today Mr Kusa is received at the highest levels in London and Washington. He negotiated the conditions of Libya’s $2.7 billion compensation payment to families of the Lockerbie victims. In the refined surroundings of the Travellers Club in Pall Mall, he negotiated the dismantling of Libyan weapons of mass destruction. He co-operates with British and American intelligence agencies in their fight against a mutual enemy — Islamic terrorism. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Saturday, September 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
Monday, November 12, 2007
TIMESONLINE: Gordon Brown will offer an olive branch to President Bush tonight by describing the United States as Britain’s most important ally and central to his foreign policy plans.
Mr Brown’s remarks, in a speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet at Guildhall, will be seen as an attempt to mend fences with the White House after a series of diplomatic tensions.
Unlike Tony Blair, whose close relationship with President Bush earned him the tag “poodle”, the Prime Minister has placed less emphasis on personal relations and instead emphasised the values and historic ties shared by Britain and America.
Tensions have also arisen over his appointment to the Government of Lord Malloch-Brown, a critic of the Iraq war and neo-conservatism, and comments by Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, seen as coded criticisms of the US’s unilateralist foreign policy. Gordon Brown attempts to mend fences with President Bush and vows US is most important ally (more)
THE GUARDIAN:
Brown to reassure Washington that US remains Britain’s closest ally By Tania Branigan
Mark Alexander
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