A more modest country
D. Goodhart, Prospect
July 1 2010

A Prospect editorial by the editor, David Goodhart, looks at Britain's new foreign policy and the likelihood of its leading to a crisis for the new government. The signs are there, as the Lib-Dems were the first to elect two positively europhile representatives like Clegg and Huhne to cabinet. The Conservatives under Cameron, on the other hand, have remained deeply suspicious of the EU: they are still the party of the monarchy, the armed forces and the flag. They backed Blair's choices, whereas the liberals have always advocated a pacifist kind of internationalism. It is not hard to imagine a rift – on Iran, for instance – between the coalition partners, but it is possible, perhaps probable, that the government will win through because there is the awareness that it is not possible, in this day and age, to conceive of an international role of pre-eminence for Britain. In other words, that modesty is called for, a more realistic approach. That is to say, as pointed out in the same edition by General Richards, chief of the British Army and erstwhile head of the Afghan expedition, the country can act alone only in less problematic situations, such as Sierra Leone a few years ago. In the new approach, the coalition partners have to compromise, the Tories in favour a greater role for European security forces, the Lib-Dems on the question of the Trident nuclear missiles. Even so, a confrontation over foreign policy cannot be ruled out.