Johnson Visits America: A Timely Submarine Deal


to analyze

Thus: 09/21/2021 8:06 PM.

Away from Europe and towards “Global Britain”: Prime Minister Johnson of Great Britain expects more global political weight – joining defense pacts with the United States and Australia. But at what cost?

An Analysis by Annette Dietert, ARD-Studio London

When Boris Johnson is interviewed by the British press in New York these days, he is filled with excitement. Relations with US President Joe Biden are absolutely fantastic, he says, and they’ve even discovered a common hobby: “We’re both big rail fans,” he explained to fellow traveler. BBC. We now also know in the White House that British prime ministers tend to exaggerate and that just a few weeks ago British-US-American relations were characterized primarily by atmospheric disturbances.

Annette Dietert

In Washington it was recorded how London took the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. British ministers reportedly called Biden a “Gaga” and a “loser”, the London Press reported, having previously been hit hard by not being involved. And those were more harmless names. The US president won’t forget that, the “Times” then quoted an employee of the Biden staff – but he apparently decided to have a short memory for the moment and invited Boris Johnson to Washington – the British in the company. As a thank you for joining the trilateral defense agreement AUKUS, at the center of which is a new submarine deal, from which the USA in particular earns.

AUKUS have some catches for London

Washington will soon deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Australia to be able to take a stronger stand against China from the Pacific, asserting its claims to power there. France, which had been negotiating a similar deal with Australia for years, was ousted. This Australian-British-American security pact, in which Johnson has now voluntarily joined, has some catches, especially for the British themselves.

As a junior partner, the state could thus be drawn into a military conflict with China, Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May quickly noted. And, even more acute: relations with France, which have been severely weakened since Brexit, are now on the path of a new ice age. Because the French, whose submarine deal with Aukus was aborted coldly and without warning, foam is building up – and with them the European Union, which has been ignored by its NATO partners and once again withdrawn from Afghanistan After has been humiliated as a bystander.

no more than a title

Johnson, however, clearly deserved it, believing he could finally materialize his central Brexit mantra: away from Europe, towards a “global Britain”. The headline, which has appeared in nearly every major Johnson speech over the years, was in dire need of substance, and so British Prime Minister AUCUS came at just the right time. Going to the Pacific with America seems like old imperial grandeur, and so the British press close to the Tories celebrated the treaty as a new attempt to save America as well as the world.

At the same time, the new British Foreign Minister Liz Truss emphasized the strategic role of Asia as a trading partner for “Global Britain”. In 2030, the region will be home to two-thirds of the global middle class, she said in a recent speech.

But AUKUS is little more than yet another title for the British; The role of the British in this tripartite agreement is actually negligible. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian even declared that London was an “opportunistic fifth wheel on the wagon”, which is why he did not even bother to recall the French ambassador to London, as did Washington and Happened in Canberra.

Was the deal worth the outcome?

Even in London, there are now increasing voices asking whether it was appropriate to join AUKUS in order to humiliate European partners in this way. Lord Peter Ricketts, former ambassador to NATO and France, pointed to the serious damage that a deepening rift with France would do to NATO, and asked the obvious question whether it would be better to include France in the Aukas’ decision as soon as possible.

An idea that Johnson voluntarily raised in New York yesterday: The relationship between Great Britain and France is indestructible, he explained. In addition, the AUKUS agreement is open to other partners. It is highly doubtful whether this late insight can still repair the damage done. France has canceled a planned bilateral defense meeting with the British until further notice.

And so the question remains open as to how Johnson intends to fuel his foreign policy spirit with material beyond the mission’s well-sounding slogans. In the long run, “Global Britain” will have to remember that the world has its European neighbors at the door as well.

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