The US is Now An Unreliable and Self-Centred Ally and That Won't Change Anytime Soon

The sooner the rest of us understand that the better, because this is the new world we live in.

Photo by Jannik on Unsplash

I suspect many of us, born post-World War 2, who grew up under the shelter of a US umbrella of security (but also values) are in a bit of shock at the moment. That is because the US has abrogated the right to call itself the leader of the free world.

Instead it has chosen a course which focuses on what the President thinks is best for the country – even if many think it may not be and even if it means cosying up to dictators and other unsavoury characters. It is therefore time for the rest of us to get with the programme, accept this new reality, and realise that the US is no longer a reliable ally. Instead it is a self-centred one.

Before I dig further into that statement let me start with two clear points:

1. The US chose to be the leader of the free world post World War 2. No one forced it to. No one else could have taken the role, but that is irrelevant. The US chose to do what it did and sought to have the rest of us follow and support its goals. That we did. Standing up to the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, joining the US as loyal Allies in wars around the world, and responding clearly to the US’s invoking of NATO Article 5 after the attacks of 9/11 – the only time Article 5 has been invoked since the alliance was established.

2. Since the end of the Cold War Canada, Europe and the UK have not committed enough resources to defence. Instead we have happily (and blithely it turns out) assumed that the US would always pick up the slack. Yes we provided some specialised niche capabilities but we really didn’t spend the amount of money on defence we should have. President Trump (and his Administration) is completely right on that.

President Trump’s Administration has blown our cosy little existence out of the water. That is a shock, but in some ways we deserved it. It has taught us an important lesson – never allow any one country to be your dominant partner – politically, economically, or values-wise. It would be wise to think of the world in pre-World War 1 terms (when many countries thought about what was important to them first and foremost), not the post-World War 2 world which has now been shown to be an aberration.

An aberration which lasted a long time but an aberration none the less – and something we are now having to deal with the impact and consequences of.

Who would have thought we would see a time when a US President would trust the word of a dictator who has launched an unprovoked and illegal attack on a neighbour over the views of Allies who have fought and died alongside it? Who would have thought a US President would call for Canada to be the 51^st State and throw trade tariffs against his closest Allies?

Yet here we are.

So what are we to do about it?

Frankly sitting still and moaning is going to achieve nothing. What we need to do is two-fold:

1. Recognise and treat the US as we would any other country which is focussed solely on trading and doing business on its own terms – and realise that it will not always share our goals, values or beliefs. Indeed it may actively oppose them.

2. Find a coalition of the willing (to use an old US term) that does share our values and work more closely with them. That includes better links between the EU and the UK, as well as with traditional Allies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We should also look to build relations with leading countries in Africa and the Caribbean and build even stronger relations with members of the Commonwealth.

I am not in any way, shape or form, proposing that we look at the US as being on a par with countries such as Russia. Not at all.

What I am saying though is that the assumption that the US will always have our backs and share our values has gone. I also hate to break it to people who might think this is a one-term US Administration problem that will go away at the next election. I fear that is not the case. There has been a seismic shift in the US approach to the world. That is not going to change – no matter who is in power. We need to start accepting that reality and figuring out how to deal with it.

In short we are back in a world where realpolitik is increasingly important. Self-interest (no matter how much harm that may do) is a prime driver of the major economies in the world – specifically the US and China. The sooner we recognise that and start to deal with it the better.

That doesn’t mean becoming more selfish or inwardly-focussed ourselves. It does mean, however, a more realistic assessment of how other countries will act and a need to stand firm (either by ourselves or with like-minded countries) in the face of pressure from others who do not share our values.

Which leads to a question in my mind. At a time when the US is showing its unreliability what is the UK doing? Planning to buy F35A fighter jets to carry nuclear weapons. Whilst the idea is right and the need is there, is this the best option? Do we think this will ingratiate ourselves further with President Trump? If the latter is part of our thinking then I fear some misjudgement may have being made.

The reality is that the US is already stalling in integrating weapons which are important to the UK on our existing F35Bs. And whilst claims from some about the US having a ‘kill switch’ on the F35 are patently untrue the reality is the US can (if it wanted to) play an unhelpful role when it comes to mission planning and upgrades. Is this something we should be worried about?

Our post-World War 2 world is no more – for better or for worse. But, at the end of the day, that’s not the end of the world. Life goes on and we just need to figure out how to deal with it.