FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 17, 2003
This week Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair visits the United States for a meeting with President Bush. A White House statement called the United Kingdom “one of America’s closest allies” and praised the British for making sacrifices by contributing armed forces to the war in Iraq. Yet, in a new policy brief, The Hinge to Europe: Don’t Make Britain Chooses Between the U.S. and the E.U., Carnegie Endowment senior associate Anatol Lieven writes, “the vital U.S. relationship with Britain is much more fragile than many Americans think.”
Lieven says that due to Bush Administration policies on many issues, “hostility towards the U.S. among the British public is higher than it has been since the Vietnam War.” He points out that Prime Minister Blair’s leadership is in serious jeopardy for his decision to join forces with the U.S. in Iraq and that U.S. power and influence in Europe hinges on the preservation of the U.S.-U.K. relationship. Despite Blair’s support of the Bush policy on terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Blair differs on a “range of issues from the Kyoto Treaty to the contours of a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians,” Lieven says.
“The United States still requires good relations with Europe…to avoid horribly damaging trade wars, maintain important [military] bases in Europe, and help ward off any threat of European economic sanctions against Israel,” Lieven writes. “It is therefore important to the United States not only that Britain continue its alliance with America but that it be strongly engaged in Europe.”
Lieven analyzes the role Britain plays in U.S relations with Europe pre-and post-Iraq, the differences over Middle East policy and strategy and the threats to the alliance. His analysis of the Bush administration’s policy towards the E.U. includes a look at foreign and security policy. “If Britain is forced to choose between the U.S. and the E.U., the consequences for U.S. power and influence in the world would be nothing short of disastrous.”
Anatol Lieven is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment who writes on the war against terrorism and patterns in U.S. foreign and security policy. He has written several books, most recently Ambivalent Neighbors: The EU, NATO, and the Price of Membership (coeditor with Dimitri Trenin).
For the full policy brief, visit www.carnegieendowment.org/pubs or e-mail pubs@carnegieendowment.org