Between Shakespeare and Jane Eyre. When it comes to the United States (many of which were its colonies), Great Britain behaves in part like Othello with Desdemona, a relationship consumed by jealousy (in this case, of France, Germany, the EU…) , and partly like one of those damsels from romantic novels, before the empowerment of women and the fall from grace of the hetero-patriarchy, who fell in love with a good-looking guy who didn’t pay any attention to them and spent the days defoliating the daisy: he loves me, He Loves Me Not…
A faded power that cannot find its place in the world (and even less now, after the Brexit disaster, the chaos of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, with the highest inflation in the G-7), the United Kingdom has spent decades basing its foreign policy in the special relationship with the United States, which basically consists of Washington’s wishes being orders (such as signing up for the Iraq war) in exchange for intelligence scoops (such as knowing that Wagner’s troops advanced towards Moscow before any other ally). crumbs.
But, although previous North American presidents made the appearance of being in love with Great Britain, this is not the case of Joe Biden, proud of his Irish ancestors, who does not forgive the British responsibility for the famine that cost the lives of millions and led to his ancestors in exile, colonial arrogance and state terrorism by the army, police and intelligence services in Ulster, in response to IRA terrorism.
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreements, Biden spent half a day in Belfast and three in Dublin; he did not come to the coronation of Carlos III, sending his wife in his place; and now, on his way to the NATO summit in Lithuania, he has limited himself to spending the night at his country’s ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, chatting for forty minutes with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Downing Street, and a quick tea with The King at Windsor Castle. Brevity, the diplomatic equivalent of the reign of Luis I (which only lasted 229 days), the mandate of Liz Truss (44 days), or what Camacho lasted on the bench of Real Madrid (20 days), Jorge Valdano on the bench of Valencia (three days) or Luis Aragonés in Betis. Or the twenty seconds it took Mike Tyson to KO Marvis Frazier.
The half day gave, however, a lot of play, enough for Biden to say that the United States “could not have a better friend and a more faithful ally than Great Britain”, and that “the relationship is stronger than ever” (bla , BLA bla). Behind that screen of good words, a noticeable difference in approach over Ukraine. London wants to speed up its entry into NATO, while Washington prefers to go slowly (among other things, because now it would mean going to war with Russia). The American president has announced the shipment of cluster bombs to Kyiv, while the British are signatories of the treaty that condemns their manufacture, sale and use. Downing Street wanted British Defense Minister Ben Wallace to head NATO, but the White House has vetoed him (speculated because he served with the Scots Guards in Northern Ireland).
Although there is still much that unites them, old partners have grown apart of late, and London is like those men or women who feel they have given everything to make the relationship work and receive very little in return. No longer the NATO general secretariat, but also a beneficial bilateral trade agreement that would partly alleviate the harmful effects of leaving the EU. But Biden does not hide the fact that Brexit seems to him to be supine nonsense, that it also threatens peace in Ulster, and that London has to pay a price (the same thing that the EU thinks, satisfied that the threat of other secession, such as that of France, has been diluted).
British Conservatives, whose time seems to be coming soon, see Biden as a Eurofederalist who holds Macron, Olaf Scholz and Ursula von der Leyen in higher regard than Sunak (which is probably true), and Brussels. as the “capital of the free world” on this side of the Atlantic, despite the fact that France and Germany spend less on defense than the UK, and that a European army would undermine NATO’s role.
Jealousy, spite, unrequited love. The British feel that the United States ignores them when they need it most.
