interested parties

The Guardian tries for a ‘world shocked by Cameron’s recklessness’ story and doesn’t quite make it.

I think they missed a trick there.  Cameron has just put the world on notice that the UK is prepared to cause major disruption to the economic life of an immense trading bloc, with who knows how many cascading effects on the pattern of global trade and investment. We’re not a political risk in the way that say, Pakistan is, but Cameron has established political risk as a necessary factor in the ways that other countries will think about the UK from now on. As such, what the hell is going on here is going to be a matter of interest to the world’s intelligence agencies above and beyond the usual level of spying-between-friends. In addition, there’s the fact that pretty much every state with a dog in this fight would probably be pleased if the current government were to be replaced by a more co-operative entity. I have no idea whether or in what way these two things might connect, but I do wonder if the Conservatives will be on the receiving end of some of the same kind of attention that Labour used to get back in the Cold War days.

Comments

[a3t]

Here's serious Washington on cue:

"Obama's not belligerent enough, maybe the EU can take up the slack?"

[Alex]

I doubt anybody is very surprised by low-level euroscepticism from a Tory.

[nick s]

Here's serious Washington

Or at least, its exclave on the Vistula, which ties in nicely with Norman Davies.