Richard G Whitman

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UK prime minister Rishi Sunak during a Q&A session on his government's priorities in Morecambe, UK. Photo by Owen Humphreys - WPA Pool/Getty Images

EuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Exterior

Relations between the UK and some EU member states have been improving recently and both sides should now invest in these further despite the still difficult, albeit improving, UK-EU relationship.

Until recently, the UK’s difficult relations with Brussels have interfered with its attempts to find new ways of engaging with European partners outside of the European Union (EU) framework.

The new Rishi Sunak-led Conservative government sees little political benefit in antagonistic relations with the EU and there appears to be no more personality clashes between leaders on both sides. This is visible in the constructive approach from both sides in the current discussions between the EU and the UK over potential adjustments to the Northern Ireland protocol, which both sides hope to conclude in the coming months.…  Seguir leyendo »

UK prime minister Boris Johnson at a military briefing with Colonel James HF Thurstan, Commander of Operation Orbital in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by PETER NICHOLLS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.

EuropaUnión EuropeaDefensa y Seguridad

The concept of ‘European strategic autonomy’ has taken a hit as Europeans have been sidelined and the European Union (EU) has struggled to make itself relevant in the current standoff with Russia over Ukraine.

With NATO’s new Strategic Concept and the EU’s first Strategic Compass, 2022 was meant to be the year of European security strategies. But the conflict at the Ukrainian border has been a reality check about what role the EU can today play in European security.

Conversely, the Ukraine crisis has amplified the UK’s role as a security provider for Europe through NATO as well as bilateral and minilateral arrangements such as the new Ukraine-Poland-UK trilateral format or, beyond the current crisis, London’s leadership of the ten-nation Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).…  Seguir leyendo »

A US soldier stands with a bouquet of flowers among headstones of those killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images.

MundoAméricaMundoOriente Próximo,
Afghanistan goals were laudable but open-ended

Sir Simon Fraser

The outcome in Afghanistan should not have been a surprise, even if the way it happened was a shock. For foreign policy in general, and foreign military interventions in particular, it is essential to be clear about goals and the capacity to deliver. In Afghanistan, the US and its allies have fallen short on both these counts.

This is a serious reversal for the US and its closest allies, but not a strategic disaster. The threat from Islamist terror will increase, but its significance is sometimes exaggerated and, to some extent, can be addressed by other means.…  Seguir leyendo »

British soldiers conduct a patrol outside Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan. Photo by JOHN D MCHUGH/AFP via Getty Images.

Europa

Intended to provide a comprehensive answer as to the substance of what ‘Global Britain’ – a description in use by the UK government since 2016 – truly means, the long-awaited Integrated Review sends the signal that departing the European Union (EU) does not make for an introspective Britain with a diminished international role.

As an important landmark in the UK’s government’s definition of a post-Brexit international role for the country, it sets out a roadmap for exactly what will be the focus of Britain’s foreign, development, security, and defence policies for the next decade. But in terms of more immediate consequences, the Review is also an important piece of public diplomacy and shows the ‘government machinery’ of the civil service how resources should be allocated for these policies.…  Seguir leyendo »

Flags of the European Union and the UK on a sand castle in Southport, United Kingdom. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.

EuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Exterior

The resolution of the process and terms of the UK’s departure from the EU finally ends what has been an intense preoccupation for both sides since June 2016, characterized by considerable domestic political dislocation in the UK, paralysis in its parliamentary politics, and a shock to the political psyche of the European integration process.

Despite this being a largely parochial affair, negotiations on Brexit and the future relationship engendered a real concern to preserve unity among the 27 member states, and the extent to which the EU and the UK actually share the same geopolitical and geo-economic challenges was a notable absence from the talks.…  Seguir leyendo »

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (R), French President Emmanuel Macron (C) and German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) speak upon their arrival for a round table meeting as part of an EU summit in Brussels on 17 October 2019. Photo by Olivier Matthys/Pool/AFP via Getty Images.

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate

As the UK’s post-Brexit foreign policy takes shape, it is increasingly clear that joint cooperation with France and Germany will be of key importance. The current dispute with the US over imposing further sanctions on Iran shows that the UK values continuing strong cooperation with its European partners on key international issues, even at the cost of a major transatlantic dispute. Moreover, the recent first meeting of the German, French and British defence ministers in an E3 (European/EU 3) format signalled political commitment by all three partners to double down on joint diplomatic cooperation despite troubled UK-EU Brexit negotiations.

The UK working with France and Germany as part of the E3 has evolved in recent years from a shared approach to diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear programme to include a broader range of international security issues, such as the conflict in Syria and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.…  Seguir leyendo »

EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier gives a press conference after a Brexit negotiations meeting at the EU Commission, Brussels. Photo by YVES HERMAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.

EuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Exterior,

João Vale de Almeida, the EU’s first post-Brexit ambassador to the UK, recently bemoaned the British government’s opposition to starting negotiations on a future EU-UK foreign policy relationship, while EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier expressed his frustration at the UK’s refusal to discuss future cooperation on foreign policy, development and defence. Many in the EU are surprised and disappointed by the UK’s position.

These sentiments are strengthened by the fact that the political declaration outlining the ambitions for the post-Brexit future relationship, agreed by both the EU and UK government alongside the withdrawal agreement in October 2019, contained extensive detail on the proposed terms for the future relationship on foreign, security and defence policy.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate,

Whether feared or longed for, Brexit day has arrived. It is positive for all sides that the process is thus far managed and ordered, with debts paid, rights guaranteed and borders still invisible on the island of Ireland. But in a difficult new phase of negotiations, as the UK and EU try to hammer out the terms of their relationship after 2020, Britain is at risk of repeating many of its mistakes from the withdrawal talks.

First, the government, through the negotiation timeline, has reduced its own room for manoeuvre. The failure of the initial withdrawal agreement and subsequent turbulent politics have reduced a planned 21-month transition to an 11-month one.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión Europea,

Theresa May’s prolonged attempt to negotiate the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has overshadowed an important, related discussion about the longer-term role of the UK in Europe after Brexit.

From the early 1960s, when the UK first sought entry to the European Economic Community, and since accession in 1973, successive British governments have wrestled with the agenda of the European economic and political integration project. However, across those decades, concerns with EEC/EC/EU issues never overwhelmed a broader British foreign policy for Europe. The UK remained focused on maintaining a leading role in the major political, economic and security issues faced by the continent.…  Seguir leyendo »

Art installation 'The Globe' at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Photo: Getty Images.

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

The  UK is not having the foreign policy debate that it desperately needs in this general election campaign. EU membership helped to shape the UK’s international priorities for more than 40 years, and Brexit will require the new government to think carefully about its role on the global stage. Yet, the party manifestos published this week do not spill much ink on broader ambitions for the UK. On the contrary, they suggest that Britain’s political parties have yet to figure out what British foreign policy should look like post-Brexit.

Theresa May, the prime minister, was the first to make reference to the UK’s international role post-Brexit in her Conservative Party conference speech in October last year.…  Seguir leyendo »

Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May attend the commemoration of the Iraq and Afghanistan memorial in London. Photo: Getty Images.

EuropaUnión Europea, ,

Now that Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she will push for a second Scottish independence referendum, how do you think this will change UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s approach to the Brexit negotiations?

I think what it means now is that Theresa May has a ‘two union’ problem to address. She has the problem, obviously, of the negotiations with the European Union which are just about to kick off, but she also now has the dual and interconnected problem of the union of the United Kingdom and holding that together. Which means that essentially she’s fighting a set of negotiations, or a political conflict, on two fronts.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaEconomía,

The referendum outcome has presented the most formidable challenge to the UK’s place in the world since the end of the Second World War. The priority now must be to set out a clear roadmap for the UK’s future relationship with the EU. The best way to safeguard its economic and political future on the world stage is to signal to the EU’s member states, and to Britain’s allies and partners outside Europe, that there is a sensible plan for a stable transition process from being a full EU member to a new relationship.

The least disruptive option now for the UK is to seek to agree a European Economic Area (EEA) relationship with the EU, prior to invoking Article 50.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate,

If the UK votes to leave the EU, then 2016 becomes year zero for the UK’s relationship with its neighbours in Europe. And an exit from the EU also calls into question Britain’s broader role and position within international affairs and the global economy.

Since its accession in 1973 the UK has progressively enmeshed its economy and society with those of the other EU member states. The EU is the UK’s biggest trading partner accounting for 45 per cent of UK exports of goods and services, and 53 per cent of UK imports of goods and services. Membership of the EU has enhanced the UK’s international influence and amplified its national foreign and security policy objectives.…  Seguir leyendo »

EuropaUnión EuropeaUE a debate,

David Cameron meets with his fellow European heads of state and government on 18-19 February for what looks set to be the final set piece battle in his attempt to re-negotiate the terms of the UK’s EU membership. The end game of the negotiations is, however, the most dangerous moment for Prime Minister Cameron’s renegotiation strategy, as his new terms of EU membership have moved from speculation and hypotheticals to a set of concrete propositions.

To have what can be considered a successful European Council meeting Cameron will need to achieve four outcomes.

Reach an agreement

Crucially, and most obviously, he needs to reach a final agreement.…  Seguir leyendo »