Apparently the US elections and Brexit combined lead to rather particular takes on the UK, alliances and foreign relations. Allow me to make three points in this regard. My main point is at the end. Bear with me (thread)
1) The UK is and remains an important country. It is a P5 nation. It is a significant economic and military power. It is an important ally. Yes,...
... some of the statements made in the Brexit context will worry partners, as decision-makers claim increasingly that UK law allows disregarding international law. They regard Brexit as special, but many of these statements are now made as describing a general UK position.
But that doesn't change the basic fact: the UK remains significant. Period.
2) The EU and its 27 Member States are an important and significant partner and an attractive ally. Economically it is a superpower (if less coherent than the other 2 main players). Militarily and in foreign policy for lack of coherence not, but it is significant.
3) And now that we have the insecurity out of the way - the whole conversation seems to assert some sort of major shift in alliances. That, however, is just plain weird. Looking at the countries of the world, even now, who should/can build a close alliance?
Embrace autocratic Russia? Autocratic China? Who are we all kidding? In the end, some basic agreement on some basic values is needed. And looking around the world - we end up with many of the usual suspects.
And this, then, is the tragedy of the situation. Yes, the relative importance of the West - first of all economically - is in decline. An economic rebalancing is happening. But here's the thing: when they speak about this relative decline in economic importance, we are part of it
We need to embrace economic opportunities in Asia - yes (and some EU countries have already done so). But a) there are limits to this and b) given the believes, values and traditions this does not mean we can or should just change allies.
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