Short Notes to Myself 1: Britain's Pivot to Asia

Given the constraints of time it isn't always possible to write long blog posts. So from time to time, I'm going to write up short notes, to point out patterns and trends that I find interesting. This time: Britain's move away from Europe is in tandem with Britain's pivot to Asia. How are the two connected? Here is my take on recent British policy moves.

Always in copycat mode vis-a-vis the United States, Britain has decided to get on to the Asia bandwagon. But how to do this when not one of the British Isles has an Asian coastline? Well, time to dust off the old Commonwealth ties. My 2013-2014 prediction: there's going to be significantly greater British ties with Canada and Australia, the two countries with Pacific faces and a cultural inferiority complex vis-a-vis the mother country, who will be willing to reconstitute a British zone of influence in the Asia-Pacific. Other players in the British move to Asia will be Singapore and, I think, New Zealand. Basically, move out of Europe in which Britain sees no more potential and swivel via the Commonwealth to recreate some semblance of British power in the Pacific.

Cold and ruthless, but that's perfidious Albion for you, as no doubt the French are grumbling about. Recent indicators that might validate my observation: the appointment of a Canadian, Mark Carney, as the Bank of England  governor. Then, there is the recent move to strengthen defense ties between Australia and Britain, and the British logistics problem of doing business in Asia is beautifully solved by sharing embassies with Canada. Right now, William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, is calling for Britain to once again pay attention to its neglected Commonwealth ties. What he really means is that Britain wants to enter the prosperous Asia trade zone by way of its pre-existing networks. Now, we all know that the stereotype of the Englishman is that he will try to get someone else to pay for his drink at the bar, so the question is how big a tab will the poor suckers Australia, New Zealand and Canada, be left holding? I bet Canada supplies the money for the embassies while Britain gets to have "access", and Australia does the bulk of the defence expenditure while Britain gets to "train." What can one say? Brilliant, old Blighty, just absolutely bloody brilliant!