The UK post-referendum
Interesting to hear Alistair Burt on BBC WS Weekend yesterday morning, arguing that there was not much difference in the UK's role in the world following the 2016 referendum.
True, the UK is still important for Yemen (not to mention the Jamal Khashoggi affair), due to its arms sales to Saudi, but in the last 6 months or so there have been talks about Syria & Libya, with France & Germany, or France & Italy involved, with the UK noticeable by its absence.
Admittedly, this is mostly due to the process of exiting the EU, since it has absorbed nearly all of the government's energy and attention, and what the case will be when an end-state is settled, remains to be seen, but arguably, the failures in Libya (to help achieve stability after the 2011 intervention) and Syria (the vote in UK Parliament in 2013) were one of the drivers of the UK's vote to leave the EU. So it goes.
True, the UK is still important for Yemen (not to mention the Jamal Khashoggi affair), due to its arms sales to Saudi, but in the last 6 months or so there have been talks about Syria & Libya, with France & Germany, or France & Italy involved, with the UK noticeable by its absence.
Admittedly, this is mostly due to the process of exiting the EU, since it has absorbed nearly all of the government's energy and attention, and what the case will be when an end-state is settled, remains to be seen, but arguably, the failures in Libya (to help achieve stability after the 2011 intervention) and Syria (the vote in UK Parliament in 2013) were one of the drivers of the UK's vote to leave the EU. So it goes.
posted by DavidP at 19:52
2 comments
