Liz Truss wants the G-7 and NATO to wage an economic war through sanctions against countries like Russia and possibly China that disregard the rule-based international order. In an important speech this week outlining his vision, the foreign minister said “we need a global NATO” to deal with global threats, including in the Indo-Pacific region. She argues that the G7 must “act like an economic NATO” by defending an aggressor-oriented partner in accordance with NATO’s “one for one and one for all” principle.
This is an ambitious idea for the new geopolitical era that began when Russia invaded Ukraine. Still, the government’s approach is full of controversy. Boris Johnson is on the verge of risking an economic war with the EU by suspending key parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol on goods going from Britain to the countryside. Legislation allowing the government to repeal it will be included in the Queen’s speech on May 10.
This would be counterproductive on several fronts. It is difficult for the United Kingdom to tell other countries to “play by the rules”, as Truss did in his speech, if Johnson breaks an international agreement he has signed. That’s exactly how the plan will be viewed around the world and closer to home in the House of Lords, where the bill will meet strong opposition.
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