The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Washington has attracted little attention in the US media, perhaps further proof that Berlin barely ranks as a world power these days, and consistently punches under its weight in international affairs. Compared to both David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel is a remarkably low-key figure when it comes to global impact, despite the size of the German economy. Judging by the content of yesterday’s joint press conference in the White House East Room, which has to rank as among the most dull …
The Franco-American-British coalition leading military intervention in Libya has demonstrated the cardinal rule of international security: enduring alliances matter. Ultimately, when the chips were down and the rebel stronghold in Benghazi was under threat, it was a coalition of long-standing allies that rallied behind one another to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. British Prime Minister David Cameron quickly emerged as Europe’s unofficial leader on the issue of Libya and was among the first to call for Libya to be suspended from the U.N. Human Rights Council. French President Nicolas …
According to British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, the United Kingdom will put into place “a radical new welfare state where it always pays to work.” Newly elected British Prime Minister David Cameron has set forth plans that, according to analysts, will result in the nation’s most dramatic welfare reform since World War II. Wracked with debt, the U.K. is attempting to whittle down their government’s largest expense—welfare—which today stands at approximately $350 billion, or 15 percent of the nation’s GDP. Currently, 5 million British citizens receive welfare, and …
British Prime Minister David Cameron has completed a visit to Turkey with a passionate defense of Ankara’s aspiration to join the European Union. The charismatic young leader, who also completed a successful Prime Ministerial visit to Washington this month, has joined leading figures, such as U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, in accusing Brussels of not playing fair with Turkey. They’re right. When negotiations with Ankara began, Brussels set out 35 chapters of EU law for Ankara to discharge before a final vote on …
In an odd reversal, President Obama went all out to welcome Britain’s newly elected conservative Prime Minister David Cameron Tuesday at the White House—this, after getting off to a terrible start last year with Cameron’s Labor Party predecessor Gordon Brown. Whereas Brown was humiliated by the extremely low-key reception accorded him by the new Obama Administration in March of 2009—a reception which did not even include a proper press conference—Prime Minister Cameron got the full court press, as well as superlative praise for the “Special Relationship” from President Obama. Maybe …
British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the White House for the first time as Prime Minister yesterday. At a time when the United States is engaged in a war in Afghanistan, when Iran is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons, and while the world economy is teetering through a weak recovery, one would hope our press corps would focus on lasting issues of physical and economic security. Unfortunately the press conference and the media coverage focused exclusively on the Scottish government’s release of the 1988 Lockerbie bomber and whether …
David Cameron’s visit to the United States this week offers the prime minister a major opportunity to assert a stronger British presence on the world stage after a period of notable decline under Gordon Brown. On both Afghanistan and Iran, two key issues likely to feature heavily in his White House meeting on Tuesday, his position should be clear: Britain will stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in defeating the Taliban and standing up to the Iranian nuclear threat. The world needs robust U.S.-British leadership, which has been …
The results of the UK elections and the new coalition government that has resulted have sparked much commentary and debate. But few Americans actually understand how the British election system works. In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Ted Bromund, senior research fellow at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, explains how Britain’s election and government-formation system differs from America’s, and what this year’s results mean to the special relationship between our two countries. Listen to Heritage in Focus: Ted Bromund on the UK Elections here.
Most people in Britain will be glad to see the back of the New Labour era after 13 years of socialist rule. Gordon Brown was a disastrous prime minister, whose list of achievements is nonexistent. He leaves behind a broken Britain, heavily in debt, fearful of its future, and in a state of decline. It will be up to the new PM, David Cameron, to get Britain back on its feet, both at home and abroad, heading an unprecedented Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition, in curious tandem with Nick Clegg, the most …
Following Thursday’s indecisive election, events in London are moving at a furious pace. In just the past few hours, Gordon Brown – still Prime Minister – has offered to resign to facilitate the creation of a ‘progressive’ coalition government composed of the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and a variety of smaller parties. Meanwhile, negotiations continue between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. There is even the possibility that the economic crisis now gripping Greece, and threatening to engulf Europe, will lead to a ‘Government of All Talents,’ like the …
