Britannia waives
Once gung-ho for military action, Britain’s elite has become more cautious
HAS once-staunch Britain become an unreliable ally, without its former appetite for military intervention in a good cause? David Cameron’s failure last week to persuade the House of Commons to support him in his call for military action against the regime of Bashar Assad has raised the question. Handled better, the vote might have gone the other way (see Bagehot). Yet a large part of Britain’s military, diplomatic and intelligence establishment also responded to the prospect of action against Mr Assad with a marked lack of enthusiasm. That may well prove more significant in the long term than the outcome of a single Commons vote.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Britannia waives”
From the September 7th 2013 edition
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