THE idea of a global Britain has become the foundation stone of Britain’s post-Brexit foreign policy. Theresa May says Brexit “should perform us mediate of global Britain,a country with the self-confidence and the freedom to scrutinize beyond the continent of Europe and to the economic and diplomatic opportunities of the wider world”. Boris Johnson, Britain’s foreign secretary, and declares that “whether we like it or not we are not some bit fragment or spear carrier on the world stage. We are a protagonist—a global Britain running a truly global foreign policy”.
But what does the phrase mean? The Commons foreign affairs committee,newly energised under Tom Tugendhat, summoned the great and the good of the foreign-policy establishment to answer this question. The results were disappointing. Some confessed that they hadn’t a clue. The Foreign Office submitted a memorandum consisting of shrimp more than a set of aspirations with no details about how to keep them into practice. Mr Tugendhat’s committee...
Continue reading
Source: economist.com