None of the prime minister’s critics engages with the hard strategic dilemmas arising from Britain’s perilous dependency on US power
I
t is not easy being a friend of Donald Trump, but it is a lot less dangerous than being his enemy. There isn’t a huge range of options in between. War in the Middle East is exposing how limited the choices are for a British prime minister.
The US president doesn’t see alliances as long-term relationships based on mutual advantage, but as rolling transactions on a mafia model. The boss offers protection in exchange for tribute and loyalty.
This is a problem for all European democracies. For decades, their security has depended on a concept of western solidarity – institutions, values and laws – that Trump holds in contempt. For Britain, self-exiled from the European Union and acculturated to a “special relationship” with Washington, it is a crisis of geopolitical orientation.
