The Hinge to Europe: Don't Make Britain Choose Between the U.S. and the E.U.

Publication Date: July 2003

Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Author(s): Anatol Lieven

Research Area: Government

Type: Brief

Coverage: Great Britain

Abstract:

The vital U.S. relationship with Britain is much more fragile than many Americans think. Thanks to the Bush administration policy on a range of issues, hostility to the United States among the British public is higher than it has been since the Vietnam War. Only the personal commitment and moral courage of Tony Blair made British participation in the Iraq War possible--and the result has been seriously to endanger his leadership at home.

Above all, Americans must understand that the strategy of this British government, and of the British foreign policy establishment in general, is to avoid having to make a definitive choice between Britain's alliance with the United States and its place in the European Union. If Washington forces Britain to choose between the two, it may not choose the United States, and a collapse of the relationship with Britain would leave the United States without a single major Western ally. The consequences for U.S. power and influence in the world would be nothing short of disastrous.