International Relations

International Relations

May 24, 2006

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in Washington for talks with President Bush on a "full range of issues on [the U.S.'s] strategic agenda," including Iraq, Iran, and the upcoming G-8 summit. On Iran, the Bush administration must confront its reluctance to engage in direct talks and help spur British efforts to build consensus for a joint U.N. approach to Iran's nuclear regime. When Blair leaves this weekend, he will undoubtedly confront once again the question of whether his close alliance with Bush has been worth the heavy cost.

• The war in Iraq is taking its toll on both leaders. As the AP noted, "Iraq hangs heavily over Bush's presidency.” The same could be said for Prime Minister Blair. UK’s The Times writes Prime Minister Blair's legacy is also "at stake in his visits this week. ... He is still devoting a large amount of time to Iraq: not surprisingly, since, as his advisers accept, his reputation is joined at the hip to success there." Their fates on Iraq seem to be tied together. Bush’s catastrophic decisions in Iraq have served to weaken his closest ally.
  
  
• The Bush administration seemingly prefers to let Britain handle Iranian diplomacy. While Iranian officials have sent signals to Washington expressing their “appetite for direct talks ... Bush administration officials, however, have dismissed the proposed opening as a tactical move." The Bush administration is seemingly content to [subcontract] Iran diplomacy to Britain, France and Germany. For their part, the British have offered a draft U.N. Security Council resolution requiring Iran to halt uranium enrichment, but without the U.S.'s direct participation in the negotiations, the measure appears unlikely to change Iran's behavior.
  
  
• One topic Blair may bring up is the closing of Guantanamo. British attorney general Lord Goldsmith said earlier this month that a prison camp at Guantanamo Bay is a discredit to the American tradition of freedom and should be shut down. A U.N. anti-torture panel last week also called for "the closing of the Guantanamo detention facility in Cuba and a halt to the transfer of suspected terrorists to countries where they may face torture." And while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently said that they would like to close it down, their actions tell a different story — the U.S. is in the midst of constructing a new $30 million state-of-the-art detention facility in Guantanamo.