The Decline and Fall of British influence?
“David Cameron? Who is he? Who’s even heard of William Hague? How dare they talk about Egypt like that? Who do they think they are? ” The Egyptian Foreign Ministry official was scornful – sent out to tell me what the boss thinks before I interviewed him. When I got called in for a private chat off camera the Foreign Minister himself was a little more diplomatic, but only a little. Of course this was an urbane pillar of the regime, in the middle of a crisis, with the revolution virtually at his door. So an irritated mood would have been quite understandable. But the thing Britain’s FCO ought perhaps to worry more about was not anger, but disdain. He laughed about David Cameron and William Hague, waving off their words with a pull of his face and a shrug. I didn’t need a diplomatic decoder to work out what he was really saying : “Britain doesn’t matter, who cares what it says?” Out on the streets they don’t have a much higher opinion of Britain with our mother of parliaments and democratic history – the refusal to back the protesters, the following of the Washington line, the use of almost exactly the same phrases as Mubarak about orderly transition, the need to avoid chaos, the dangers of the Muslim Brotherhood and the need for broad based government – it has not exactly left London looking like a beacon of democratic hope. So here we are – 21st century democratic revolutionary thinking spreading across the middle east and Britain isn’t much liked by anyone on any side. That’s a tricky place to be for a declining world power.
The whole point of British foreign policy is to punch above our weight. We may be a relatively small island nation, diminishing in economic importance, with limited military capabilities but for years we’ve had the diplomatic equivalent of cuban heels and big shoulder pads and hoped nobody would notice. We have a seat at the top table of the UN Security Council and one of the most important financial centres in the world. But if the decline and fall of the British Empire is complete, the decline of our diplomatic weight seems also alarmingly at hand.
It isn’t yet clear whether Britain’s foreign policy is now so focussed on trade because the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats don’t believe in ‘liberal interventions’ (for fear partly of Iraq style disasters) and saying what Britain stands for in the world, or because they’re just not sure what their foreign policy should be about beyond trade. If it is the former and Britain is returning to a self interested foreign policy based on trade that is an intellectually defendable position, even though some might disagree with it and want Britain to do more to uphold its values. Huge government visits taking half the cabinet to India and China made it clear that trade is centre stage. And using diplomats and their contacts to improve business for British companies is perfectly wise. But if the government isn’t sure what it thinks its role should be that is more worrying.
On Egypt are we all clear what the position is? Do we not support regime change in Egypt because Mubarak isn’t a threat to the region? Or because we don’t really think he’s a threat to his people? Is William Hague visiting Tunisia but not Egypt because really he supports the protests, or because he doesn’t want to interfere? The fear in some quarters is that the government might be giving away rather more of our influence than needs be. And once they lose it, it is hard to get back. When it comes to David Cameron’s admission about Britain being junior partner to America he might have been stating the obvious but was it wise to go around admitting it? The PM’s undiplomatic forays into Indo-Pak relations with some harsh words about terrorism and the Af-Pak-Kashmir situation didn’t do him many favours. Indians I spoke to thought it just showed how powerful they had become that a British leader was cosying up to them. In Europe David Cameron no doubt gets on well enough with Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, but it is hard to see how he can ever be very powerful. Especially when despite obvious problems with the Euro Germany is again the economic powerhouse of the continent while Britain tries to stave off double dip recession.
I’m not yet one of those who say Britain is already irrelevant on the world stage. We still have the clout of traditional alliances, our place at the UN, economic power and military forces capable of joining if not leading interventions. But if they are laughing at us in Cairo’s Ministerial Offices there might be something to worry about.
There are 17 comments on this post
That clout cannot serve this country in winning a world cup bid. Britain needs to step out off the streets of Albert Sq to the streets of Mumbai to see why they don’t matter anymore….Or Gurgaon or Noidia or Chandigarh or Pune… You get the idea…
Frankly, it’s about bloody time too.
Who are we to arrogantly continue to “punch above our weight”? That’s just a euphemism for medling in the business of others. You only have to look at the mess we’ve left in the various countries that we once occupied to see the harm that does and it’s about time we shrugged off our Empireitis and got used to being the smaller less influential nation we now are. A little bit of UK modesty would do no one any harm at all.
How many countries would vote for Britain to be on the UN Security Council if they were given the chance. Maybe the US, but who else?
British governments (of all colours) seem to be the last to realise that we are just part of the pack now.
So how ironic that we continue to waste money trying to punch above our weight, an analogy that comes from boxing where 99 per cent of the fighters who do it, get knocked out and punch drunk.
“Who’s even heard of William Hague?” Everybody has heard of Hague – he is Ashcroft’s friend.
It’s time Britain fully recognised what it is – a small island that has had its days in the sun. We had some good days – and did some terrible things as well. We should now stop running around trying to be Johnny Big-Bollocks, and concentrate on living within our modest means, and try be a happy country, not an important one. We must stop trying to tell the rest of the world what to do – we are just embarrassing ourselves. We are like parents being left behind by grown-up children, still trying to tell them what to do, but earning nothing but resentment in the process.
Nicely put.
Krishnan,
Almost a cliche now, but British influence died with its empire. It is almost fifty years since Dean Rusk said, “Britain has lost an empire and not found a role.” Well, the Brit establishment HAS found a new role: lapdog to the Americans, albeit with a life limited to the wishes of the USA establishment.
There has been only one occasion when the British poodle didn’t sit up and beg to the Americans, and that was avoiding support for the Vietnam War, for which Harold Wilson paid with a coup attempt that wasn’t entirely unsuccessful (see Peter Wright’s “Spycatcher”).
Moreover, the nations subject to British colonial invasion and theft have, rightly, never forgotten the experience. The Egyptians are the least of it.
Britain would do well to withdraw from the UN Security Council, drop its fawning to the US and its crackpot colonial wars, reindustrialise and try to create a fair society.
But that is asking too much of a government that traditionally can see no further than London loop roads – if it can’t have a national vision it certainly can’t have an international vision.
There are useful Scandinavian precedents of how to deal with diminished roles on the world stage, none of which will be even looked at.
So I wouldn’t hold my breath. There is still life in the British Delusion.
Disillusioned a little, almost bitter you sound.. The only thing that killed the British “empire” was greed. But did your government learn from those mistakes? No!!!! Britain is where it’s at, because of failed policy and greed. One of the worst failed policies was nationalising banks and sticking the bill to the tax payer….Loans would of been more suitable and would of made banks more accountable. Britains only answer to anything is raising taxes, and the working class is always hit the hardest…. It is time for Britain to stop blaming America for it’s problems, America doesn’t run your country.
It would do channel4 news good to stop asking the question, how this Egyptian crisis will affect America but instead how will this affect Britain.
The only way we’ve maintained our influence is by being the USA’s staunchest ally, prepared to join them in expensive conflicts that on balance have probably failed to serve our interests anyway – even in the longer term. We should stick to a foreign policy based on our trade requirements, say as little as possible, and if we want to encourage others to adopt our values, demonstrate here in the UK wht those values are, that we are pursuing them successfully and that this brings benefits to all the people living here.
O.K we will grovel and say who are we to stand up to all those other nations, we will let them walk over us and show us that slimy money and terrorism are the way forward. Sure!
Get a grip folks.. you are as bad as those buffoons who associated identity with money mocking the Brits for their way of life and revelling in others heritage. Stand by your own for a change.
We are still a powerful nation with immeasurable intellect which cannot be gained with good exam marks and learning ‘off pat’ to create an impression of intelligence.Never let go of what you have , always build positively on mistakes. Spirit please.
And then tax them!!!!!! Lol
This is a very perceptive analysis. I have lived in the US for several years, and from across the pond, the change in British status is dramatic and alarming. Right now, the US broadcast media regularly refer to Cameron as “prime minister of England.” They don’t even care to get the country’s name right anymore! Looking back, I think there was a pretty dramatic shift in opinion about Britain when those British sailors were captured by the Iranians. Americans were SHOCKED at how easily they were taken; and then seeing them cosying up to the Iranian dictator wearing headscarves and suits he had given them—well it was a pretty shameful display. Don’t think it hasn’t escaped the Americans’ attention either how the British are decimating their armed forces with all these cuts. Add to that Obama’s petty insults (returning bust of Churchill, incompatible DVDs to Gordon Brown, the gift of an iPod to the Queen!), and you get the picture. Britain is doing nothing to stop the decline either. What exactly does Britain make or do anymore? At the moment, from an American point of view, it seems the main UK export is Jihad, seriously.
Not! What do you expect from a diplomat of an ex-colony like Egypt? Disdain is part of the territory.
By the way Elizabeth, I’m sure Obama doesn’t do petty insults – it was early in his term and his office hadn’t got a grip – and the bust was on loan and due for return – see Andrew Rawnsley’s “End of the Party”.
The British practically begged Obama to keep the bust—sort of a permanent loan, but White House staffers at the time literally mocked the concept of a “special relationship.” It was early days, inexperienced staff and president, but my point stands–Britain simply doesn’t have the starring role on the world stage that it used to and is doing precious little to earn such a role. Obama’s personal indifference, or as some believe, hostility to the UK has exacerbated the problem. But he’s a smart guy and understands the new world reality: compare the recent grand state dinner for the Chinese premier versus the low-key lunch he held for Gordon Brown. I find it terribly sad because I am a firm believer in the greatness of British culture and its potential to achieve excellence.
Elizabeth, out culture is still OK but since losing an empire (more gracefully than we ruled it), we have become a small island off the coast of Europe that gave the world a fine language and an interesting history.
Some of us are glad that our political world role is diminishing. It is an anomaly and we can’t afford it, especially when it gets us involved in wars like Iraq, which was none of our business.
Frankly it is an embarrassment that we still have a seat on the security council when so many other, more important countries don’t. The places should be reviewed every five years,
Obama is a savvy president and he can see that while there might be a sentimental ‘special relationship’, it is not Britain that is going to be a major player in the US’s future prosperity.
Heartily agree that we don’t need to replicate the UK’s past military or colonial might. However, respect and admiration from other countries can also emanate from domestic achievement. Think of all the amazing inventions and scientific innovation that came out of Britain in the past, not to mention great achievement in the fields of arts and ideas. Beginning with the education system, there should be nothing stopping Britain from becoming a powerhouse of innovation and excellence again. Perhaps if the Egyptian official referenced by Krishnan was driving a vehicle using a new British-developed engergy cell, or had benefitted from a cancer cure developed at one of our universities, he wouldn’t have been so dismissive. Carpe Diem.
I stand corrected on the bust Elizabeth but I think you are underestimating the British contribution across the piece, eg. Brown’s leadership of the response to the global financial crisis particularly at the time of the G20, the UK’s widely acknowledged leadership over many years on international development policy and debt cancellation for poor countries…there are many other examples I’m sure in fields less familiar to me.