British Prime Minister Gordon Brown loves America too. - 13-Nov-07 - Generational Dynamics

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 13-Nov-07

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown loves America too.

We now have two European leaders competing for our affections.

Last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy spent an hour telling how much he loved America and America's idealism to a joint session of Congress.

As I wrote last week, Sarkozy is playing a complex political game to gain a French advantage over Britain in the European Union, by trying to show that France can be a better friend to America than Britain can.

Well, not so fast. On Monday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave his first major foreign policy speech and, not to be outdone by the French, he expressed his admiration for America too:

"It is no secret that I am a life long admirer of America. I have no truck with anti-Americanism in Britain or elsewhere in Europe and I believe that our ties with America - founded on values we share - constitute our most important bilateral relationship. And it is good for Britain, for Europe and for the wider world that today France and Germany and the European Union are building stronger relationships with America.

The 20th century showed that when Europe and America are distant from one another, instability is greater; when partners for progress the world is stronger."

Brown even complimented "the personal leadership of President Bush."

This is quite a change. For years, former Prime Minister Tony Blair was ridiculed by the press as being "George Bush's poodle," because of his close ties with American policy. What this was supposed to mean, in case you don't get it, is that Blair was somehow hypnotized by Bush, and simply did as Bush commanded, a concept so ludicrous that only someone like a BBC reporter could conceive of it.

Thus, when Blair stepped down and Brown became Prime Minister, he carefully avoided giving the impression that he was going to be Bush's new poodle. He made it clear that he was his own man, and that his policies would be distinctly different from America's.

Well, Nicolas Sarkozy seems to have changed all that. Here's how the BBC put it on Monday:

"Gordon Brown's Guildhall speech shows that Britain's foreign policy remains somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic.

On this occasion, the British prime minister gave a touch on the tiller to take the British ship of state a bit closer to the American shore.

He was worried perhaps that mixed signals he and his ministers have been putting out indicated a cooling off after the heat of the Blair-Bush relationship.

He is also mindful that the French under Nicolas Sarkozy have suddenly rediscovered their taste for America. Britain might be feeling a little left out, but then it has always been the case that the prodigal son gets the warmest welcome."

And so, for a while at least, the English and the French are competing for the love and attention of America.

Let's enjoy it while it lasts, because I doubt that it will last long. (13-Nov-07) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 13-Nov-07 British Prime Minister Gordon Brown loves America too.

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 13-Nov-07
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown loves America too.