When Theresa May made Britain’s bumbling buffoon her Foreign Secretary, cries of despair could be heard from afar. Boris Johnson’s track record hardly screamed ‘international diplomacy’, but so far, he isn’t doing too badly
‘I am very humbled’
One area where Johnson is explicit is NATO. In July, he took aim at Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump for his criticisms and prospective plans to roll back US involvement.
NATO is an organisation designed to protect, and Secretary Johnson has made it ‘absolutely’ and ‘fervently’ clear that the UK and NATO are at one. Johnson is quite right that NATO has ensured the safety of Europe since 1948, something which has created a military bond much stronger than EU trade.
So what does it all mean?
Time will only tell if these are just Johnson’s scripted words — his calm before the storm, if you like. But for now, he seems dead set on maintaining a strong bond, and it is a bond that must go beyond the ‘special relationship’. Concerning Trump, we may never need to say sorry, especially in view of CNN’s recent announcement of a six-point Clinton lead.
Saying this, the first Clinton administration used NATO as a means of dismantling Yugoslavia and demonising Serbian rebels, so time will tell here too. Nonetheless, if we have Boris until 2020 at least, it seems that a strong bond with NATO is most likely on the cards — hopefully not to be threatened by a Trump presidency.
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Joseph Howe
I first began writing for Shout Out UK in November 2015 while in my first year at university. In February 2016, while studying at the Charles University of Prague I was appointed SOUK's Politics Columnist. Since then, I have conducted interviews with MPs and civil rights activists from the U.K. and other places in Europe.
Since graduating from the University of Liverpool, I have taught current affairs in two colleges in Vienna, and am about to start a new adventure in the Houses of Parliament. Among other things, I love to travel and enjoy a very hectic social life.
