This won't exactly endear London to the folks in Brussels and
it demonstrates once again that the UK (more than ever) is Washington's
lap-dog.
The scandal is already five years old but it hasn't had a
proper public reckoning. Clearly it's a sensitive issue that I'm sure all
parties just want the story to go away.
It's probably exacerbated by the fact that Trump is
president. Had Obama still been in the White House, it's likely the scandal
could have been swept under the rug.
The scandal reveals not only the nature of the UK-USA
relationship but something of the American posture towards the EU. The
relationship has always been complicated and (though many don't seem to know it)
somewhat hostile. The EU is viewed as a rival and yet over the past few years
its solidarity (even if shaky) has been convenient for Washington. The US would
prefer to manage Europe through NATO and other Atlanticist institutions. Now
under Trump, even NATO has developed some foundational cracks. This (coupled
with Brexit) will only drive London and Washington into an ever closer embrace.
While Obama was much more amicable to Brussels than someone
like Trump, the scandal (along with the Merkel phone episode) reveals that even
the overtly Atlanticist factions within the US Establishment are still wary of
the EU and seek to manipulate it.
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