International isolation

One of the preeminent elder statesmen of US politics once famously said that in times of global crises he wouldn't know who to call in Europe - a not-so-subtle dig at the perceived cacophony of disparate European voices and opinions on crucial transatlantic issues.

In the aftermath of last week's tumultuous events at the EU summit that have sent shockwaves reverberating through the corridors of power in Europe and beyond, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger may be forgiven for feeling even more bewildered about who to put that call in to.

Even more disconcerting to the current Washington political elite is the vexing question whether - and whom - to contact in Britain. Prime Minister David Cameron's midnight move in Brussels has not only caused a deep rift within his Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition - and a public fallout with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg - but has also left the US political establishment scratching its collective head.

Cameron's perceived intransigence over Britain's future involvement in resolving Europe's financial crisis has cast shadows over the so-called special relationship between the US and the United Kingdom and begs the question of how Washington will proceed.

A rock and a hard place

Should the Americans seek still closer ties with the leading eurozone members in the hope that the reciprocal support will help to resolve the respective economic problems - at the risk of further isolating Britain?

Or, by the same token, should Washington remind itself of the historic and sentimental values it shares with its traditional partner - at the risk of foregoing the advantages and benefits that a resuscitated eurozone could offer an ailing America?

There is a third way, one that would see the US shift its focus away from both the eurozone and Britain and instead turn toward Asia. The emphasis that President Barack Obama placed on the region's economic and political importance during his recent trip is a clear indication that global political and economic alignments are shifting. His already close ties with Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia (a former British colony!) were cemented further with an agreement to station US troops in the north that will act as a counterbalance to China's increasing influence in the region.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter: Australia offers the US something that Britain no longer does, namely the ability to be a geo-strategic partner in an increasingly important region of the world.

Britain can no longer play that role. It has maneuvered itself away from being the strategic buffer zone for the US in its dealings with other leading European countries.

Britain's path to European isolation has put paid to Kissinger's exhortations for the need to find someone in Europe to talk to. The US will move on to new pastures. Britain, however, currently has nowhere left to turn.

Author: Rob Mudge
Editor: Sabina Casagrande