Source: Chatham House –
Chatham House Director Bronwen Maddox warns ‘This does mark the end of the Western alliance’
News release
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In her annual lecture, Maddox described a world in which superpower competition threatens the peace of others, and saidUS policy under President Trump amounts to a revolution.
Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive of the Chatham House international affairs think-tank, gave her annual lecture at the institution’s London headquarters on 13 January, speaking to a packed audience of policymakers and figures from business, diplomacy, NGOs and civil society.
In her lecture, Maddox described a world of two superpowers whose competition for power ‘is a threat to the peace and prosperity of others’. And she outlined ‘a chance to stand up for principles that the superpowers are shredding’.
Trump’s revolution
Describing the policy of President Donald Trump’s administration, Maddox said: ‘We have had from President Trump what amounts to a revolution. He has given the US a radically new role in the world and – at the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence – a role that rejects the principles on which the US was founded: that government should be accountable to the people.’
She added: ‘Most profound, we have had the rejection of principles of international law that the US helped forge – even if it often declined to apply those to itself. Venezuela brandished that rejection to the world, followed by the President’s intention to acquire Greenland.
‘That is a flagrant offence against the UN Charter and if he did so, acquire Greenland by using force, it would be the end of NATO. Members of the world’s most successful military alliance are already forced to contemplate how they might have to defend themselves against its most powerful member.’
In further remarks she said: ‘This does mark the end of the Western alliance: that is, a group of countries confident they share not just interests but principles of individual liberty, intellectual and religious freedom, constitutional democracy and free trade – principles which have been the engine of their prosperity as well as the rationale for their global influence.’
China
Addressing China’s position in this emerging world, Maddox said: ‘The US has never had a rival like China: its equal or more in technology, trade and military power.’
Expanding on her theme, she said: ‘In just a few years, China has become the leading exporter of electric vehicles. It’s not just those, solar panels and turbines; you can see the same happening in pharmaceuticals, batteries, 5G telecoms, factory automation and shipbuilding.
‘China has spent decades pursuing this supremacy through mineral deals, loans, sending students around the world, keeping its currency low. And without question through theft of intellectual property.’
Of Chinese President Xi Jinping, she said: ‘While President Xi has said he supports global governance, he wants emphasis on sovereignty more than human rights and a greater role for China in world institutions where it is very successful in steadily placing more officials.
‘Yet it is striking where China chooses not to get involved. It wants to invest in the Middle East, not broker an elusive peace; exactly the same in Ukraine. It presents a rival to US power without mimicking it, one reason the US has been so confused in how to respond.’
UK policy
Addressing how the UK should navigate these challenges, Maddox said: ‘The UK has performed a balancing act of some agility to the point where it can be hard to discern the policy.’
She added: ”It needs to put itself in a position to be tougher with both the US and China. It is good to have a US trade deal except its terms haven’t stuck and the president is taking aim at the BBC, a national institution which the prime minister will have to defend if the lawsuit goes on.
‘It is good to visit China but a tougher response on spying is important. And there are difficult decisions ahead on whether to buy wind turbines and how much to depend on Chinese students.
‘It is important to champion the rule of law but that is undermined at home even by something that seems small but isn’t: postponing local elections on spurious grounds.’
‘To strengthen its hand with both the US and China, the UK needs a closer relationship with Europe but appears unsure how to achieve this. It will need to cut welfare to pay for defence but if this government cannot make that case, it will take another government – or a security crisis – to do so.’