The leaders of the United Kingdom and France have been doing the diplomatic rounds in what can only be seen as desperate attempts to shore up fading influence in a world dominated by United States-China rivalry.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Turkey signing a meaningless defence pact with its fellow member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). What he really wanted was to regain some traction in an area where it was once a major player.
What he got was a lecture from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the UK’s “provocative steps” by continuing to support Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“Western powers must remember the un-kept promises to Palestine and do what is necessary,” Erdogan is reported as saying.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron was off to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan where he hoped to shore up continuing supplies of uranium to fuel his country’s nuclear industry.
Traditionally, France has got must of the yellow cake from its former colony, Niger, but that is in doubt now an anti-French junta has come to power there.
He at least got a warm welcome, as both Central Asian countries are trying to loosen their traditional ties with Russia as its war with Ukraine drags on.
However, both Sunik and Macron are playing around the edges of a diplomatic game dominated by the US and China. Their initiatives are more for home consumption as both face declining polls and the rise of extremist forces on both the far left and right that put their political careers in question.
Geopolitical analyst Alexandros Itimoudis is even kind when he describes the visits as part of “an indirect competition between the two major powers of Europe” — a description that Germany, and even an emerging Poland, would want to question.
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