Political Confusion: This Is How Great Britain Turned Into Global Britain After Brexit

British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Secretary James Cleverly revealed in his first major speech on the country’s public policy that the Kingdom is currently seeking to gain new allies and revive old alliances after it distanced itself from the European Union and in light of the apathy that overwhelms its relations with the United States.

In the context of talking about the features of the foreign policy that Britain will pursue in the coming decades, Cleverly stated that the balance of power has changed and the geopolitical center of gravity has begun to shift towards the south and east, expressing his country’s desire for rapprochement with African countries, taking advantage of his African origins for rapprochement with the leaders of the brown continent.

It is noteworthy that the United Kingdom has a long history with African countries dating back to the colonial era, as British colonization of the resource-rich continent began in the nineteenth century through individual companies and businessmen.

 

New Allies

On December 12, 2022, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly gave a speech announcing that the United Kingdom was looking for new friends in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

According to the statement, Cleverly, who assumed the Minister of Foreign Affairs position on September 6, stressed the need to build long-term strategies for foreign policy, adding that the UK must develop its relations with the countries of increasing influence, which will shape the future of the world.

“We can’t just hide under the comfort of our friends and erstwhile alliances. We need to grow and have conversations with diverse countries with different philosophies,” Cleverly said.

Currently, Britain is working to strengthen its relations with about twenty countries to establish long-term diplomatic partnerships regardless of the extent of these countries’ commitment to democratic values, which some see as a British concession on the Kingdom’s commitments to human rights.

In this context, The Guardian newspaper stated in its report on December 11, 2022, that the diplomatic approach established by Boris Johnson cannot combine the resources that Britain needs with its diplomatic standing and its role in establishing human rights.

Therefore, the levels of standards that those countries must comply with in order to become part of Britain’s new friends have decreased, as the only basic principle mentioned by Minister Cleverly lies in respect of those countries for Britain’s borders and sovereignty and that they do not pose any security threat to it.

In this context, some twenty countries are said to have been identified as future regional powers and emerging industrial powers, including India, Ethiopia, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, Kenya, Vietnam, as well as Poland and Romania.

James Cleverly admitted that not much will be achieved for several years, but he hopes that the diplomatic efforts made by the UK to develop its relations will bear fruit within a quarter of a century or more, which made some see the conservative government’s patient diplomacy as evading its responsibilities at the present time.

In turn, the researcher in international relations, Abdulrahman Salah el-Din, said in a statement to Al-Estiklal that the British endeavor to strengthen African relations is mainly related to mitigating the impact of leaving the European Union, as well as strengthening energy sources.

He also noted that the British had begun to realize the profound negative effects of their exit from the union, which had provided them with diplomatic cover and scope for broad economic influence, and they must now make up for this void.

The researcher pointed out that “Russia’s use of gas as a weapon against European countries, including Britain, prompted them to search for long-term alternatives, especially since the short-term alternatives that they resort to now have a high economic cost that they cannot afford for many years.”

The UK’s exit from the European Union and heading toward Africa is a change at the level of partners, not at the level of allies, as Salah el-Din said, that is, Britain will remain a major ally in NATO, but it will expand its economic partnerships with new countries, either energy-exporting countries or with the potential to be an alternative to China in securing cheap labor.

 

Political Confusion

The United Kingdom is floundering internally and externally and is trying to find a new direction for itself after its exit from the European Union and the subsequent disruption of its relations with other European countries, especially since its politicians began to feel that they had missed a lot amid attempts to plug the hole of the British ship to avoid its sinking and to search for a lifeline outside Europe.

That is why, after Brexit, there was much talk about the vision of Global Britain put forward by the previous UK government, that is, in other words, a great power with global influence, according to what former British diplomat and international relations expert Arthur Snell said in his interview with Al Jazeera on December 12, 2022.

Regarding the interpretation of the Global Britain theory, Mr. Snell explained that Britain is supposed to carry out most of its diplomatic and economic dealings outside the European continent, but in reality it still relies heavily on it, indicating that it is a case of a failed government trying to draw up a foreign policy for the country, but it will not be crowned with success.

As for the problems that will arise in this regard, writer Sean O’Grady, assistant editor-in-chief of The Independent newspaper, explained in his article on December 12, 2022, that “the UK needs an immediate economic boost through trade and investment, to help make up for lost markets in the process of leaving the European Union.”

The article indicated that there is nothing but a trade deal with India with the fulfillment of special conditions for granting generous politically deceptive visas, which may constitute an urgent need for larger economies.

“By taking into account future fluctuations in exchange rates, the economy of India is already larger than that of Britain, as is the case of Indonesia and Brazil, and in the years after 2030, countries such as Mexico, Turkey and South Korea may overtake the UK in terms of national income,” the article added.

According to observers, Britain’s failure to strengthen its relations with these countries may lead other countries to co-opt it away from Western influence in light of the intensification of diplomatic competition.

Despite this, the writer stated that the UK, which has a modest economy in size and seems poised to enter a few years of stagnation, cannot compete for influence with the three largest economic blocs in the world, the United States, China, and the European Union.

“China, in particular, has worked to build an international network of emerging and developing countries that are economically interconnected, starting from Sri Lanka to Peru through the Belt and Road Initiative, which is often criticized and described as neo-colonialism,” O’Grady wrote.

The writer concluded that in light of the circumstances the world is going through, the UK’s investment with Vietnam or Ethiopia could become worthless the moment Beijing or Brussels appears ready to inject cash into the markets.

 

Pragmatic Steps

Britain is determined to try to change its old image in Africa, as reported by the Financial Times on December 12, 2022.

In the context of the economic crisis the world is going through, Africa emerges as a strategic power economically, as the continent is still full of opportunities, and Britain will work to rely on the private sector to achieve a boom in its old areas of influence at the commercial and popular levels.

Previously, the British Foreign Office said that the Foreign Secretary, during a visit to Kenya, promised honest and reliable investment in the continent.

It stated that the UK will announce new support for the African Development Fund (ADF) with the aim of helping the poorest communities in Africa grow their economies, create jobs, and improve healthcare.

During a visit by the British Foreign Secretary to Ethiopia last week, Britain announced its readiness to provide more support for the peace process in Ethiopia.

Prior to his visits to Ethiopia and Kenya, Cleverly, whose mother is from Sierra Leone, said in an article for the Evening Standard on December 7 that “Africa has always been a part of my life, but this is not a visit driven by personal feelings, but by forward-looking pragmatism,” while acknowledging that investing in and partnering with key African countries provides huge benefits to the UK.

Two years ago, the African-British Investment Summit was launched in the British capital, London, with the participation of leaders from more than 50 African countries.

The British government said at the time that it would inform African leaders and executives of major companies that it wanted to make Britain their investment partner of choice and promised to announce deals worth billions.

Last month, the South African government announced a partnership with the UK in the areas of health and science. Its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, also met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The two sides held talks on trade and investment issues.

In the same month, Britain announced that the British Export Finance Agency would allocate up to £4 billion to boost trade relations between the United Kingdom and Morocco.

On December 9, 2022, the UK’s Development Finance Corporation and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) announced a partnership in a $75 million agreement for small and medium enterprises across Africa.

British efforts coincide with US President Joe Biden hosting more than 45 African heads of state in Washington between December 13 and 15.

Biden stated that the summit will show the United States’ permanent commitment to Africa, and increase cooperation with it in common global priorities, which observers consider an attempt to counter Russian and Chinese influence on the continent.

Given the European colonial history in Africa, the Biden administration did not consider inviting any of its European allies to the American-African summit, despite its awareness of their urgent desire to consolidate relations with Africa, which have cooled in recent years, knowing that Britain, America’s strategic ally, is seeking the same thing, which made the Kingdom describe the American move as selfish and consider it a betrayal.