Liang Qiujun
If we take a leaf out of the history of Britain, it is obvious to read that Britain is truly a mature and sophisticated old hand of the balance of power or more frankly saying that the elite policy-makers in London are the clique of the geopolitical manipulators.
As we all know that since the Second World War, Britain’s prestige as one of the “Big Three” (along with the USA and the Soviet Union), in world affairs has relied on Winston Churchill’s “tri-ring” diplomacy, that is, a solid “special relationship” with the United States, the titular head of the Commonwealth (the British Empire’s successor), and its association with Europe but never be a part of it.
It is self-evident that by its membership in these overlapping and mutually reinforcing three circles, Britain might hope to maximize its hard and soft power and mitigate the effects of its military and economic “dwarfing”.
One of the examples is that in line with this strategic thinking, the elite policy-makers in London put forward in 1946 that “To keep Germany down and Russia out of core Europe, it is imperative to keep the United States in”.
This scheme has worked remarkably during the Cold War and its aftermath. Thus far, nearly 80 years have gone. The scenario is that the Americans are still in, but Europe has been different from the 1940s-60s and turned into a powerful economy in the world.
Under such circumstances, on September 6, Liz Truss was selected by her Conservative Party as the head of the ruling clique and then stepped into the chair of the UK’s 56th Prime Minister.
As an admirer of “getting tough” in foreign affairs, Truss has risen rapidly through the ranks within one decade only; as an MP in 2010, administrative staff in 2012, and then cabinet member in 2014 including her tenure of foreign secretary in 2021.
Due to this, the world wonders how she will deal with the economic issues and particularly foreign affairs in view of the vicissitudes of the global order.
Historically speaking, the British Empire was, and the United States is, concerned not just with the balance of power in one particular corner of the world but also with the evolution of what we today call “world order”.
Since they have made all efforts to expand a worldwide system of trade and finance that has made both Britain and America incredibly strong in terms of finance and technology.
As a result, the Anglo-American axis has possessed the capabilities to project military strength, globally to ensure their supremacy in international systems.
Now acting as the Anglo-American axis in the anti-Russian coalition globally, newly-selected British Prime Minister Liz Truss has no options to carry out its approaches in foreign affairs: “to make Russia weaken and to make EU divided while to keep Anglo-American hegemony going”.
To realize the goals, first, Liz Truss and her ruling clique need to further enhance the special relationship with the United States plus Canada, Australia, and New Zealand; the “Five-eyes of the Anglo-Saxon group.
It is reported that Truss called her US counterpart Joe Biden to ensure that the US continues to act “as a cockboat in the wake of the British man-of-war.”
For example, she has worked closely with the US in strengthening the Indo-Pacific strategy, joining it and Australia in forming AUKUS, and declared the need for building a “network of liberty” in recent years, targeting China and Russia.
Second, Liz Truss makes all efforts to weaken Russia while keeping the EU divided. There is no question that the war in Ukraine verifies the legitimate basis for the EU and Britain to support Ukraine as she has assured Ukrainian President Zelenskyy that he has her full backing, and Ukraine could depend on Western assistance for the long term.
She was cited to say that the UK along with its allies supported the Ukrainians’ fight for sovereignty and self-determination since it was essential that Ukraine succeeds and Russia fails.
Third, in order to completely isolate Russia, Liz Truss and her allies have worked for an international coalition to win over or coerce the Global South to keep away from Russia and even its largest strategic partner China, e.g. she has been fiercely anti-China within the government.
For example, Truss argued that the UK should arm China’s Taiwan region so that “it has the ability to defend itself” against China.
There has been a report that Truss is expected to make an unprecedented move by classifying China as a “threat” to the UK’s national security once she takes the role of Prime Minister.
It is true that different British governments attached different weights to the three roles in which Britain was cast. Yet, the lesson was never forgotten, that Britain would be the faithful partner of the US in all its global enterprises.
In return, Britain could draw on an American surplus of goodwill possessed by no other foreign country. For all the pragmatic sense it made, one cannot conceive of such a connection forged or enduring without a common language and a shared imperial history.
Given this, can the world count on Liz Truss? Let the world prepare for the possible scenarios while working all efforts to the best results. After all, as an ancient wisdom teaches that “If you want peace, prepare for war” (Si tu veux la paix, prépare la guerre).
*The writer is a junior Research Fellow at the National Development and Security Institute, School of International and Public Affairs at Jilin University.
**The Diplomatic Insight does not take any position on issues. The views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Diplomatic Insight and its staff.
