Christopher Caldwell

The fruits of victory

Tony Blair's visit to Camp David comes at a time when we are riding high in America. Christopher Caldwell says that by backing Bush, the Prime Minister is likely to make Britain a Great Power once more

issue 01 February 2003

Washington DC

George W. Bush announced during his State of the Union message that America and its allies will disarm Iraq with or without the UN. If America, as appears increasingly likely, gets war, it will be thanks in large part to Tony Blair and Britain. But what will Tony Blair and Britain get thanks to America?

A typical American would answer (a) that’s the wrong question, and (b) quite a lot. If Tony Blair is America’s poodle, then his yap is being heard. Britain stands higher in US estimation than at any time since 1945. Recent opinion polls yield results that could make an American question whether Britain was a foreign country at all. When Gallup asked Americans last week whether they could ‘count on’ Germany, they replied ‘No’, by 51 per cent to 40 – which places Germans at roughly Saudi Arabian levels of trustworthiness. France ranked even lower, down with China.

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