China Daily | Xinhua | 21 July 2010

British ‘more cautious in special relationship’ with US

US President Barack Obama (R) smiles as British Prime Minister David Cameron speaks to reporters following their meeting at the White House in Washington July 20, 2010. (Photo / Agencies)

Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House, said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the new coalition government, which came to power on May 11 in the wake of the inconclusive May 6 general election, did not want to fall “into the role of junior partner which they believed that Prime Minister Tony Blair ended up having to play.”

Niblett said: “So, we have seen quite a cautious approach by the new government in its relationship with the United States. The language that has been used, they have not used the phrase ‘ special relationship’ on the UK side. It has been used by President Barack Obama since David Cameron won.”

He added that there had also been a caution about Afghanistan, with David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s coalition government trying to make sure that it doesn’t look as if it is “simply fitting in behind a US political strategy, so there is therefore some differentiation on the timelines for how long their troops will be based in the country.”

He said that new directions in foreign policy strategy had been laid out by Foreign Secretary William Hague, with less focus on the United States.

Niblett said Hague “really spends more time talking about how the UK needs to build up its own bilateral relations with emerging powers around the world — not just China, but also India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, etc.”

The “special relationship” between Britain and the United States remained strong, said Niblett. “It is even a special relationship in some areas — in military cooperation in Afghanistan, of counter-terrorism against terrorist threats, so it is still a strong relationship but I think it is undergoing some interesting changes at the moment.”

The relationship between the United States and Britain was now changing because former British prime minister Gordon Brown was in a weak position domestically and needed to demonstrate his closeness to Obama, as Obama has great international popularity.

“I think David Cameron has taken a much more relaxed and stand-offish, almost, approach to the US and has waited for the invitation to come to him to go to Washington rather than him trying to get an invitation to Washington in advance. So there is a very noticeable change of tone,” said Niblett.

He added that he did not think this would offend the American president: “I don’t think President Obama minds at all. I think from America’s standpoint having a Britain which is more relaxed about its relationship to the US is very important because the U. S. has many other things to focus on.”

The heart of the “special relationship” lay in security, said Niblett, with Afghanistan topping the agenda, as international terrorism from the region posed a threat to both countries.

The economic sphere was almost as important, he said.

Niblett elaborated: “We do have a certain connectivity through our reliance on the finance sector through our commitment to overseas markets and importantly very deep bilateral investment relationships.”

A rough ride lay ahead for both countries economically, which would have a bearing on the “special relationship,” said Niblett, and in addition would be some serious cuts in British defense spending and therefore its capability to cooperate with America in the military sphere.

“How Afghanistan plays out may have a big impact on how valuable the bilateral relationship is seen at a military level,” he said.

And Niblett had noticed fears in the coalition government around American trade policy: “Trade in particular is a big fear, particularly among the coalition government, there’s a fear that the US and the Obama administration in particular is less committed to free trade than its predecessors have been. The UK needs free markets to be successful. So, I can see some points of tension in the life of this parliament which may make this pragmatic and rather more mature relationship that we see between President Obama and David Cameron a slightly less special, a more grown-up relationship.”

“It could be tested in the next three or four years and any number of areas — Iran for example. But if I look forward 20 years into the future, I think the UK is going to remain one of the countries with the most close relationship with the US simply because I do not see any alternative for either,” he added.

Source: CD