UK’S TASK: A GLOBAL BRITAIN
THERESA May’s pickle is all about how to deliver Brexit while maintaining standing in the international arena. It is becoming clear that May will be the last prime minister at Downing Street to enjoy the trappings of soft power.
Put simply, the problem May faces is how to fortify Britain while advancing the slogan of “Global Britain”. Their weakening economic fortune and high levels of disunity do not provide sufficient grounds to sustain the Global Britain agenda.
From its time as an empire builder, the UK has always had global influence and allure. The formation of the Commonwealth was one way the UK used to maintain ties and influence with the territories it once ruled as colonies.
The success of the Commonwealth resided in the fact that even countries that were not erstwhile British colonies, such as Mozambique and Rwanda, successfully lobbied to be included. Even countries that had left the Commonwealth, such as Gambia and Zimbabwe, submitted intentions to return.
While the Commonwealth had a global scope, in Europe it was through the EU that the UK sought to posture itself outside its borders. Since joining the EU in 1973, the UK has been a major player in the organisation, bolstered by its permanent membership at the UN Security Council.
The economic synergy that was formed by the EU, coupled with the obliteration of visa requirements, made the EU a model of regional integration.
The referendum, however, presents the UK as a power that wants to retreat from regional and global integration; indeed, as a power that is succumbing to nationalistic sentiment that is sweeping the West after the rise of terrorism. The UK will have a hard time convincing its allies that Brexit does not translate into withdrawing from global responsibility.
This is in stark contrast to China, which is spreading its appeal through economic and political ties. China has ensconced itself in Africa and is in the incipient stage of leading the Belt and Road Initiative – a project that will cater for more than 60% of the global population.
The concept of Global Britain, on the other hand, seems a last-ditch effort to hang on to the influence that the UK is gradually ceding.
Africa needs to understand Brexit to enable it to respond to a changing Britain. There will be more room to negotiate new free trade agreements with the UK after Brexit.