As James has noted, there is a yawning gulf of ideas opening up between the Tories and Brown on foreign policy. Read this piece by David Aaronovitch in The Times today for a fascinating exploration of the subject. While I am still not sure that Gordon embraces liberal interventionism with the same ardour as Blair – for all his contempt for the EU, Brown is still a believer in rules-based internationalism – there is no doubt that the PM is closer ideologically on foreign policy to his predecessor than is Cameron, the self-styled “heir to Blair”. As was once pointed out to me by a very senior Cameroon, it is no accident that Dave inherited Douglas Hurd’s seat: he is more of an old-fashioned pragmatist on foreign policy than a 21st Century radical. But if he becomes Prime Minister he may find that old-school pragmatism is no longer sufficient to the needs of our time.
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