UK's special relationship with US needs to be recalibrated, Obama tells ex-pats in Britain
I have often said that the phrase "special relationship" which is usually used to describe the relationship between the US and UK is a joke, and that the only "special relationship" the US has is with Israel and not with the UK.
Now it appears that Barack Obama realises that the UK acts as if it is an US aircraft carrier off the coast of Europe, without gaining any advantage for such servitude. Obama is making it clear that he would like to change that.
Barack Obama has called for the "special relationship" between the US and Britain to be "recalibrated" to make it a fairer, more equal partnership, the Guardian has learned
"We have a chance to recalibrate the relationship and for the United Kingdom to work with America as a full partner," Obama told more than 200 American expatriates gathered at the Notting Hill home of Elisabeth Murdoch, the head of Shine television production company and daughter of the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
The event, which raised more than $400,000 for the Obama campaign, was intended to be confidential, but several guests have since confirmed the senator's remarks. A foreign policy adviser to the Obama campaign said the remarks on the US-UK relationship reflected the senator's general foreign policy approach.
"It's no longer going to be that we are in the lead and everyone follows us. Full partners not only listen to each other, they also occasionally follow each other," the adviser said.
I support Obama because he has said that he wants to end the war in Iraq, close Guantanamo Bay and restore Habeas Corpus. Anyone who promises all that understands all that is wrong with the neo-con presidency. But to turn to the Special Relationship and understand what a bloody fraud it is, means that none of my wildest hopes about this guy have been wrong. He really does get it.
Blair's relationship with the Bush presidency did more than anything else to destroy his premiership, where his relationship with President Clinton had added credence to Blair as a world leader. This came down to the simple fact that, whether true or not, Clinton appeared to listen to other world leaders. Bush has made it seem as if he "decides" and others simply go along or be deemed to be outside the tent pissing in.The general opinion among the Obama foreign policy team is that Tony Blair got very little in return for his support of the Iraq invasion, in terms of promoting his agenda for multilateral action on global issues and for a Washington-led push towards forging a settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Prime minister Gordon Brown's foreign policy team agrees with that assessment, arguing Blair put too much emphasis on Britain being a bridge between the US and Europe.
"The trouble with being a bridge is that people walk over you," one senior British official said recently. Brown has previously had close relations with the Clinton camp, but his first meeting with Obama, in Washington last month, was said by both sides to have gone very well.
Anyone, even someone like Blair who agreed with the policy regarding Iraq, will always be perceived as weak and being bullied within their own country.
If the US President is saying "My way or the highway" it is hard to take any national pride in a Prime Minister who chooses the President's way, as it is implied that an act of surrender is taking place. Bush and the neo-cons have never fully appreciated this nuance, as they truly believe that the US is omnipotent and that the rest of the world should simply do as they say. That they do this whilst preaching "democracy" is simply another example of the hypocrisy which is at the centre of their creed.
Obama appears to understand that partners want to be listened to. And that, occasionally, partners might see things differently and say things that you don't want to hear.
Obama has told his supporters that one of the things he wants to signal to the world with his presidency is that "America is back!"
The rest of the world doesn't ask for much. Indeed, we loved Clinton, in many ways, because he pretended to listen. We're an easy bunch to please. Bush always seemed to go out of his way to let us know how uninterested he was in what the rest of the planet thought. And when Europe disagreed with him over Iraq - and Britain, shamefully under Blair, sided with the US - it was Europe who were, in the end, proven to be on the side of the Gods.
Obama is promising to restore an equality of sorts to the relationship. It is long overdue and it will be much welcomed.
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2 comments:
This is great news!
We just might be finally seeing an end to the American neocon arrogance, in which our "allies" are really considered to be little more than extensions of our own military to be at the command of the American President.
There really is little choice at this point. We all saw how difficult it was to get additional troops for Afghanistan. The "Coalition" in Iraq is a joke. Nobody wants a piece of that action. The brow-beating, cajoling, and guilt-tripping has all failed, and Bush is now just pushing our allies further away.
Todd,
I think Obama is well aware of what Bush has done to American allies and how, treating allies as if the are underdogs, makes it almost impossible for the leader of any foreign country to assist the US.
One of the things well documented over here is how very little Blair got for his dog and pony show with Bush.
No-one's saying that allies must always benefit, but Blair was promised a push on the Middle East and we were all told that the road to a Palestinian state lay through Baghdad. And then we watched as Bush - with Blair acting as silent partner - refused to call for a ceasefire as Olmert flattened Beirut.
That, in actuality, was what ended Blair's premiership - not Iraq - as that was the final straw, we could see that far from working for peace in the Middle East, Bush was egging Israel on to further excess.
At that point Blair simply looked a fool and his party turned on him.
That was Tony's reward for being Bush's greatest friend. He left him out to dry. And every leader in Europe will have taken note. And will, in future, act accordingly.
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