Americans should be rejoicing after Brexit. For I believe we have been given a gift by those who voted for the U.K. (United Kingdom) to leave the E.U. (European Union). American diplomats have an opportunity to strengthen the U.S. bonds with the E.U. while diplomatically retreating from a weakened foreign policy relationship with England.
"England" because Scotland's majority, those pragmatic realists for whom I have an even greater respect, and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the E.U. And since the U.K. comprises England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, I must mention the Welsh did vote for separation (for more on a Welsh dissenter's point-of-view, read Richard Wyn Jones' article in The Guardian ).
I will address American Colonialism in a future article; however, we have patterned our foreign policy in part on the British model. When policy critics decry the United States' skewed support in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, do critics remember that the British in partnership with its allies led the partition of Palestine and the establishment of Israel? Or that after World War I, the British military and leadership marked the boundaries between Middle Eastern countries, once part of the Ottoman Empire or German possessions then "awarded" to French and British during the Treaty of Versailles (1916)? And where were American diplomats in all this? Woodrow Wilson spearheaded the League of Nations with full cooperation among Western nations which supported the Treaty (including promises made and quickly broken; the United Nations has not been much better).
Rest assured I'm not advocating a divorce from our staunch ally rather a separation from England's nationalistic resurgence. Yes, a large populous in the United Kingdom suffer the same economic woes as do the working and middle classes here. The English workers' anger towards elitism justifies dissension but not a reversion to the past. Millions of English-persons now regret the decision, at least in terms of economic consequences, and have called for a second referendum to repeal the secession vote. Clearer minds and common sense have begun to prevail. However, I do wonder how many in England, Wales and the United States see that blind nationalism has devastating consequences in foreign policy as well?
Groups of nationalists in France and Germany have begun sowing the weeds of separatism, especially with the influx of refugees--a term which should be used more by the press, in case they don't remember it means: "a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution." (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Symbolic weed-killers, i.e. supporting isolationism and prejudice; bombings, and worse sending in ground troops (who, to continue the analogy, used napalm during Vietnam to flush out or eliminate alleged Viet Cong "terrorists") will not eradicate the current pestilence of terrorism. Only a united front among our allies who accept the inevitable globalization and global community and the United States to improve the economic welfare of all impoverished people will facilitate stabilization. To feed prosperity, the ground must be fertile, nourished by its growers, not destroyed by its predators.
Certainly a lesson Trump supporters, war-mongers--particularly avengers who wish to retaliate against all Muslims by bombing their homelands, indiscriminately, and establishing Western-backed leaders in countries such as Syria--haven't learned. Sound familiar? If the United States wants to be independent from British rule, then our citizens must think globally. Our economic survival, national security depend on being part of the solution and separate from our colonial past.
Happy Independence Day, Americans!
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