Not since the days of the 1956 Suez Crisis have the ties that bind the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain been so strained. Why? The reason is simple. There is a new man in the White House.
President Barack Obama wasted no time in making his intentions clear about the future for the U.S. and Europe. He plans to make friends with the players who will really count in the years ahead. Some of his counselors are wondering whether he should try to play favorites with just one of the the European Union's members—Great Britain—when he can woo the whole shebang.
At the first meeting between Prime Minister Brown and President Obama, the PM gave the new president a penholder crafted from the timbers of the HMS President, sister ship to the HMS Resolute. The Resolute's timbers were used to make the Oval Office desk symbolizing the bond between the two countries.
Reporter Nile Gardiner wrote, "Barack Obama heads to Britain and Europe in two weeks' time as the leader of the first U.S. Administration to wholeheartedly back the creation of a federal Europe.… the Obama administration is avowedly Euro-federalist in outlook and is keen to help build… a European superstate in Brussels. This dangerous shift in U.S. policy is a betrayal of both U.S. and British interests that will threaten the long-term future of the Anglo-American Relationship, weaken the NATO alliance and undermine the defence of British sovereignty in Europe" (The Telegraph, March 18, 2009).
David Cameron, British opposition leader and head of his nation's Conservative Party, faces a tough time. Either he stands firm with the Eurosceptics in his party, or he caves in to Brussels' pressure to continue supporting the juggernaut spawned by the Treaty of Rome in 1956. The dream of a fully functional European Federal state—complete with a president and foreign and defence policies—is now enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty.
That treaty will not be ratified, however, until all EU member states approve, and Irish voters upset the process last year by voting "No" in their nation's referendum on its implementation. But Ireland's "No" barely ruffled a feather in the halls of the European Commission—the real powerhouse of Europe. Business has carried on as normal, and the Irish Prime Minister has essentially been told to keep asking his people until they say "Yes" to the treaty.
Strong support from across the Atlantic will strengthen the hand of European federalists. It may be too early to tell, but the indications are that Obama and his team are keen to duplicate the EU experience in North America. Some have talked of a North American Union made up of Canada, the United States, Mexico and other Caribbean and Central American countries. In such a union there could be a common currency and closer ties to Europe.
The "New World Order" so often spoken of by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is gradually becoming a reality. There is an inexorable move to establish global spheres that enthusiasts hope will ultimately morph into a one-world state. Idealists hope this will bring world peace, but the Bible identifies this as the last stage of the Babylonian system revealed in Daniel 2.
_______
The above is adapted from one of the many commentaries, discussing vital topics facing our world, available at the www.lcg.org and www.tomorrowsworld.org Web sites.