Breaking up is never easy
The British, and quite a few other European governments, are on the verge of making their biggest foreign policy decisions since 1945.
Do they stick with the USA, ignore the criminal stupidity and madness of the current administration and wait for the chance that normality and sense will return to Washington? Or do they call an end to the post WWII international consensus and decide to pursue their own best interests, without America?
The decisions may be made easier by several factors. First Trump is so dumb he thinks the Norwegian government has denied him the Nobel Peace Prize. Second and far more seriously the fact is that Ukraine has been finding intelligence it has shared with America is finding its way to the Russian armed forces; a shocking betrayal and finally the ridiculous idea of Trump’s to have an International Peace Board to usurp the UN, with him as permanent chairman with more votes than anyone else. A board which would doubtless steal Greenland for the Yanks and approve tariffs on its allies.
Sure, we trust you Donald, we really do.
Far better, you might think, for Europe to stand on its own two feet and look to its own defence. With Sweden and Finland as recent new members of NATO and with a resurgent Poland this is not as difficult as it might sound. Europe would need to invest heavily in intelligence gathering and logistics but it has good ships, tanks and planes; and let’s face it Russia can’t beat tiny Ukraine. What chance would they have against Poland and all the rest? None whatsoever, which is why the Kremlin is working so hard at dividing Europe and trying to set it against itself.
Brexit was its greatest victory since 1945 and it is now successfully peeling off America not just from NATO but from its role as the sole pre-eminent Superpower.
It is time to counterattack. Tell America it can no longer be trusted and can no longer lead Europe by the nose. If America ever returns to sanity and logical policies again, it can rejoin the real world, perhaps.
But it has now reached the stage where we may be better off divorcing now. For the Labour government this will be a huge step, one I am not sure it, or any other British government, will have the strength and courage to attempt.
But desperately sucking up to a loon is not a foreign policy. We have friends all around us, time to act our age and drop the pretensions of punching above out weight and invest in our own neighbourhood instead.
From Jonty Bloom Media Ltd
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
Well said. The terrible part (with which I agree) is that it seems to you, Jonty, and to me, that we really cannot trust any of our current political class in the UK to have the courage to make the necessary decision to begin to break with the US and join with like minded states across the world. I would only add, not just our neighbours, but Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand…..
There are indications that there is increasing disquiet about Trump on the home front, including the GOP which has hitherto been in thrall to him. But so far the USA is showing itself unable to rein him in, surrounded as he is by swivel-eyed loons and sycophants, Yes, we should take the opportunity which is ever more compelling to reduce our dependency on the USA, and make greater and more meaningful approaches to our neighbourhood and to other, like-minded - if further-flung - international partners.
Me, I'm looking forward to the film The Madness of King Donald - a sure-fire Oscar winner when the good ship America has righted itself.