THE last thing that America needs is more economic turmoil and political navel-gazing in Europe, a continent which—for all that it disappoints and maddens officials in Washington—remains a major trading partner and indispensable ally when the “free West” needs to act as one, for instance by sanctioning Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Turmoil in Britain is especially unwelcome, because, though Germany may be more powerful and France more gung-ho during recent foreign-policy crises, no other big European nation so often shares America’s basic instincts about the world and how to keep it prosperous and safe.
For that reason American leaders of both parties have hastened to play down the shock of the Brexit vote. Visiting London in April, Barack Obama urged the British not to leave, and offered a blunt (and in the end, probably counter-productive) warning that if they did, an independent Britain would find itself at the “back of the queue” when it came to striking free-trade deals with America. All efforts in Washington, he argued, are focused on expanding trade with whole blocks of countries, in Asia and in the European...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2944aRY
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