Intentar ORO - Gratis
Britain has been paying a high price for Uncle Sam's craziness. It's time to turn to Europe
The Observer
|March 30, 2025
In his final column, the Observer's foreign affairs commentator warns that Trump's America spells trouble for its allies, but it was ever thus
America spells trouble for Britain. That's undoubtedly true in the age of Trump - but maybe it's always been so. The White House's undisguised contempt for loyal allies in the UK and Europe necessitates a robust reciprocal rethink. How healthy and desirable - is this partnership? Has it caused more problems than it's worth?
Those, myself included, who throughout their professional lives have taken close transatlantic ties for granted, face some awkward questions. Is the US-UK "special relationship" an embarrassment, even a strategic liability? Today's America is evidently not a trustworthy, disinterested friend. Was it ever?
As I write my last foreign affairs commentary for the Observer, I look back over nearly 50 years and wonder, firstly, at the false narrative, not confined to Donald Trump, that American altruism is exploited by "freeloading" European Nato allies. What tosh! US troops and missiles are based here primarily to defend the US. Since 1945, Washington has viewed Europe as its first line of defence against Russia. Germany was the US's preferred cold war battlefield, Britain its airfield. Perish the thought that Americans might actually fight on their own soil (except against each other). US wars are typically waged in faraway places. That's why the 1962 Cuba missile crisis came as such a shock.
The trouble with America began at conception. The "war of independence" that started as a middle-class taxpayers' revolt was a stab in the back for Europe's struggle against Napoleon's tyranny - the Vladimir Putin of his time. American resistance to British efforts to suppress the global slave trade perpetuated another evil.
Esta historia es de la edición March 30, 2025 de The Observer.
Suscríbete a Magzter GOLD para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9000 revistas y periódicos.
¿Ya eres suscriptor? Iniciar sesión
MÁS HISTORIAS DE The Observer
The Observer
Led by Donkeys
The protest group's Windsor Castle stunt made top use of its weapon of choice: embarrassment
4 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Orwell's fear that his books would be used for rightwing propaganda has come true DJ Taylor
I was so absorbed in the spectacle of Elon Musk's video-link harangue to the Unite the Kingdom rally last weekend - one of those performances that managed to be absurd and terrifying at the same time - that it took me a moment to register the slogan on his T-shirt.
4 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
'No one listens to us': the working-class despair fuelling the rise of the far right
Under the racist chants at last week's rally lies a deep sense of political betrayal
4 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Trump's assault on the media goes into overdrive
Donald Trump has warned that media outlets that are \"against\" him could be punished as his administration's crackdown on opponents intensifies after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, raising fears for freedom of speech in America.
2 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
The Bank's crypto caution is holding Britain back
Stablecoins, a form of digital currency pegged to an existing local currency, are the big winner from the recent boom in crypto.
1 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Digital ID, two-child cap, taxes... Starmer on front foot to save his leadership
The prime minister’s supporters say he’s got the message and will mount a spirited defence at party conference. For others it’s too little, too late, writes Rachel Sylvester
1 min
September 21, 2025
The Observer
How a free speech evangelist became the White House's state censor-in-chief
Trump-appointed chair of the US media regulator, Brendan Carr has launched an alarming attack on the president’s critics, reports Hugh Tomlinson in Washington
3 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Cyber-attack on three airports leads to disruption for thousands
Thousands of passengers saw their flights cancelled or delayed yesterday after a cyber-attack that affected Heathrow and airports in Berlin and Brussels.
1 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Sultana calls in lawyers as row deepens with Corbyn over new party
The former Labour MP alleges 'attacks' on her character as group's implosion drives 1,400 supporters to Greens
2 mins
September 21, 2025
The Observer
Islamophobia
Silence in power is complicity in hate
1 mins
September 21, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size