Hollow echoes of Empire
Socialist Outlook newspaper1990sPaul ClarkeTranscribed or corrected by hand from the printed page.
FOR THIRTEEN years of Conservative rule British capitalism has faced a central foreign policy dilemma.
As British capital has relied more and more on profits from foreign investment, the Tories have been racked by the contradiction between the rapid development of European unity, and the post-war stance of Britain as junior partner and loyal ally of the United States.
This dilemma has not been finally resolved; but overall, the Tories have been dragged screaming and kicking into the process of deeper European unity.
Central role
The problem stems from the fact that the US and NATO have provided Britain with its nuclear capacity and its central role in international politics – including its permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. This has been vital in promoting and securing British overseas investment.
On the other hand, only a small part of British capital is deeply involved in the US market. For the long-term future of the economy, as world capitalism divides between the three major blocs of North America, Europe and Japan, the EC is much more important.
Echoes of Empire have resounded through the Thatcherite years. The British ruling class may not be very good at much these days, but it is good at war.
General Galtieri's 1982 invasion of the Malvinas islands provided Thatcher with a golden opportunity to win cheap re-election in 1983, on the back of victory against a third-rate military power.
It was a close-run thing. Only a few unexploded Argentinian bombs stood between the sinking of British aircraft carriers and defeat, and the ultimate squalid victory. The calculating cynicism of the British ruling class was vividly shown in Thatcher's decision to sink the Argentine warship Belgrano, which was sailing away from the British fleet, with the loss of 1,200 lives.
The international scene in the 1980s was dominated by Ronald Reagan's 'evil empire' crusade against the Eastern bloc. As the US unveiled Star Wars and waged counter-revolutionary war against the peoples of Nicaragua, El Salvador and Afghanistan, Thatcher played the role of star supporter.
Britain's subordination to the US was highlighted during the 1983 invasion of Grenada, a country formally under the jurisdiction of the British crown. Thatcher and foreign secretary Howe were appalled by the high-handed action of the US in not consulting Britain, but acquiesced nonetheless.
British capitalism couldn't afford the vast rearmament programme undertaken by the US under Reagan, but Thatcher did her bit in commissioning the £15 billion Trident submarine programme.
The most dramatic demonstration of Tory prostration to the diktats of US foreign policy was the 1976 use of British airfields for F-111 bombers to attack Libya. Thatcher fully participated in the growing international tirade against 'terrorism' – an easy way to scapegoat and criminalise radical third world regimes.
Stalwart
Britain under Thatcher and Major has remained a stalwart of international support for the apartheid regime in South Africa, blocking every attempt at effective sanctions.
Concern for human rights did not extend to the fate of workers and the left in Hong Kong; successive Tory foreign ministers negotiated the return of Hong Kong to China with no human rights guarantees. The rich of course will be allowed into Britain.
The key foreign policy episodes in the final years of the Tory regime were the Gulf war and the continuing saga of European unity. Moth-eaten and decrepit British imperialism was wheeled out again to play key supporting role while George Bush murdered 250,000 Iraqis.
But Gulf war glory couldn't hide the reality. Britain is a declining imperialism, more and more forced under the European umbrella to fight for economic survival. British foreign policy in the 1980s will be remembered for its militaristic hostility to the third world, fanatical anti-communism, and slavish following of the United States. A sorry and sordid record.