Britain and the United States should never again intervene in other sovereign countries’ affairs with the aim to “remake the world in our own image,” Prime Minister Theresa May said ahead of her meeting with President Donald Trump.
May—who is the first foreign leader to meet President Trump since his January 20 inauguration—also addressed the overriding question Britain is grappling with as it separates itself from the European Union (EU).
While stressing that Britain is distinct from the rest of the Europe “because its history and culture is profoundly internationalist,” May said Britain has “ties of family, kinship and history” to countries like Pakistan and India.
“We are a European country—and proud of our shared European heritage—but we are also a country that has always looked beyond Europe to the wider world. We have ties of family, kinship and history to countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and countries across Africa, the Pacific and Caribbean.
May was addressing a group of Republican lawmakers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that the “days of Britain and America intervening in sovereign countries in an attempt to remake the world in our own image are over.”
At the same time, May argued that Washington and London should lead the world and take on “new global challenges,” including the Syrian conflagration and the fight against the ISIS or Daesh terrorist group operating mainly in the Syria and Iraq.
But that must happen with a big caveat.
“This cannot mean a return to the failed policies of the past. But nor can we afford to stand idly by when the threat is real and when it is in our own interests to intervene,” she said.
Her remarks suggested the challenge of balancing the leadership—a delicate task between imperatives of living in the globalised world both as a distinct power with belief in non-interference and being an inextricably interconnected partner of the world.
“We must be strong, smart and hard-headed. And we must demonstrate the resolve necessary to stand up for our interests,” she added as an anxious world, including Europe and key American allies like Japan, waited for some clarity on the United States’ role on the world stage in the Trump era.
May appeared to echo many conservative voices in America when she weighed in on West’s policy toward Iran and warned against the “malign influence” of Tehran.
Britain was one of the world powers that negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran and also re-established diplomatic ties with Tehran 18 months ago.
The British prime minister was clear in standing on the side of the oil-rich Gulf countries, many of them locked in sectarian strife against Iran.
Reducing Iran’s influence was “a priority for the UK too as we support our allies in the Gulf states to push back against Iran’s aggressive efforts to build an arc of influence from Tehran through to the Mediterranean.”
But May was careful enough not to imply a backing out of the high-stakes Iran nuclear deal designed to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons capability.
“The agreement must now be very carefully and rigorously policed—and any breaches should be dealt with firmly and immediately.”
Many observers drew historical contrasts between the inception of a close alliance that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair forged with former US President George W Bush and now the meeting between May and Trump in a far changed world.
The US and Britain have faced much criticism for their roles in launching the Iraq war in 2003 on the basis of faulty intelligence about Saddam Husain’s having acquired weapons of mass destruction.
Trump has been consistently critical of the Iraq war and reiterated his views on deadly repercussions of the conflict in an interview with ABC News this week. Trump has also suggested that it was a mistake not to secured control of Iraqi oil reserves as these, according to him, funded Islamic militancy.
According to the British media, in view of last year’s Brexit, prime minister May could also be using the visit to Washington to show Britain’s leadership role as a country without the EU.
While underscoring the US and UK leadership in a changing world, May cited the rise of “new enemies of the west and our values” and fears China and India could “eclipse” the west.
“The rise of the Asian economies—China yes, but democratic allies like India, too—is hugely welcome,” she said.
“Billions are being lifted out of poverty and new markets for our industries are opening up, but these events—coming as they have at the same time as the financial crisis and its fallout, as well as a loss of confidence in the west following 9/11, the military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and sporadic terrorist attacks—have led many to fear that, in this century, we will experience the eclipse of the west. But there is nothing inevitable about that.”
May said Britain would take on an “even more internationalist role, where we meet our responsibilities to our friends and allies, champion the international cooperation and partnerships that project our values around the world, and continue to act as one of the strongest and most forceful advocates for business, free markets and free trade anywhere around the globe.”
She also distanced Britain from rest of the Europe, and the EU, in terms of her nation’s right to “choose to join international organisations, or not,” although, according to analysts, she would try to keep close ties between the US and NATO’s European allies.
“They (nations) can choose to cooperate with others, or not. Choose to trade with others, or not.”
Continuing, she noted that that is why if the countries of the European Union wish to integrate further, they should be free to do so. “Because that is what they choose.”
“But Britain—as a sovereign nation with the same values but a different political and cultural history—has chosen to take a different path.”
Britain has done so because its history and culture is profoundly internationalist.
“And of course, we have ties of kinship, language and culture to these United States too. As Churchill put it, we ‘speak the same language, kneel at the same altars and, to a very large extent, pursue the same ideals’.”
“And, today, increasingly we have strong economic, commercial, defence and political relationships as well.”
May also made a pitch for a new free trade deal between Britain and the United States.
“So I am delighted that the new Administration has made a trade agreement between our countries one of its earliest priorities. A new trade deal between Britain and America must work for both sides and serve both of our national interests. It must help to grow our respective economies and to provide the high-skilled, high-paid jobs of the future for working people across America and across the UK.”
