Independent UK: The world needs Britain to step out of the US shadow

[marmar]

Nick Clegg: The world needs Britain to step out of the US shadow

As members gather in Bournemouth, the Liberal Democrat leader argues that only their party has an effective modern foreign policy

Sunday, 14 September 2008




The late 20th century was defined by a wall that divided East from West Berlin. The early 21st century will be defined by the internet, a technology that has demolished borders at a pace never seen before.

Globalisation is the greatest engine for change – for better or worse – in our modern world. Free trade, climate change, al-Qa'ida, the credit crunch and international crime are all expressions of a borderless world of unprecedented opportunities and threats.

It has become commonplace to say that party divisions have disappeared into a colourless, centrist consensus. Yet our response to globalisation represents one of the greatest dividing lines in contemporary politics – between those who understand that power has now escaped the clutches of the nation state and those who refuse to accept limits on that power.

Politics is about wielding power and influence to create a better, more stable fairer and greener future for all. But national politicians can no longer deliver that on their own. If we are to create a better society for ourselves we must work with others.

I am lucky enough to have worked abroad for many years and to come from a family of mixed nationalities, brought up to believe that nations are stronger together than apart. So whether it was managing development aid projects in Central Asia and the Caucasus in the mid-1990s, or dealing with hard-headed Russian and Chinese trade negotiators, or pushing forward Europe-wide legislation to help create the largest single market in the world, I have always been guided by a simple insight: supranational government is not a sacrifice of our sovereignty; it is the only way we can extend our sovereignty to shape and influence the world around us. It is an insight still denied by large parts of the British political establishment. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nick-clegg-the-world-needs-britain-to-step-out-of-the-us-shadow-929667.html

[bemildred]

1. Britain needs Britain to step out of the US shadow.

"The World" doesn't really give a shit.