End of Blairism

 A new government has taken office in Britain which inherits the crisis afflicting British life in the last few months. Despite tensions between London and Tehran which heightened recently, Iran has welcomed Gordon Brown’s Premiership.

Considering that Brown is Blair’s heir and a member of the Labor Party that still dominates Britain’s political scene and decisions in international affairs, Iran’s welcome of the new government and Brown’s Premiership is questionable.

This question can be answered by looking at the prospect of bilateral policies, changes in the deployment and number of British troops in Iraq and the country’s new approach to the Middle East crisis.

The Prospect of Bilateral Policies: 24 hours after being assigned by Queen Elizabeth II to form the new cabinet, in a major shift, Gordon Brown substituted David Miliband for Margaret Beckettt as the Foreign Minister.

The 41 year old Mr. Miliband is a young man of Jewish descent and is  Britain’s youngest foreign secretary since 1970. He was a critic of Tony Blair for sending British troops to Iraq in 2003 and it seems as if he wants to show his competence in reforming British  policy in the Middle East.

With Mr. Miliband’s ascension and reforms which come after Beckett’s relatively calm period, a new generation will enter Britain’s foreign office which can grasp  realities more clearly.

Although currently Britons have no other option than large-scale military and political co-operation with Iran to solve their problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, through welcoming Gordon Brown’s appointment as the Prime Minister of Britain, Iran has hoped for Britain’s more appropriate and impartial role in regional and international affairs.

This prepares the way for the expansion of London-Tehran ties. Of course the current status has made London and Tehran’s co-operations pending and trusting Brown’s cabinet and co-operation with Britain will be beneficial when Britain revises the dual behavior it had towards Iran during Blair’s last days as Prime Minister.

Maybe it’s time for Britain to initiate a trust-building initiative with Middle Eastern countries like Iran. If it succeeds in moving a step forward in this process, definitely a new prospect will be provided for Iran and Britain. The main point about Brown is that he has been chosen to correct Blair’s mistakes and free the party and country from problems which especially exist in foreign issues. One of   these problems is defining a strategy on Iran’s nuclear issue upon which Brown attempts to follow EU’s approach of direct negotiations with Iran

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After George Bush’s government rejected the Baker-Hamilton commission’s suggestion on direct negotiations with Iran, Blair showed no reaction, nor any opposition. Since that time Bush’s government has attempted to change its approach towards Iran but Gordon Brown believes in a big move to interact with Iran in order to prevent a catastrophe in the region. Brown has implicitly opposed United States’ likely plan to attack Iran.

 The changes he brings to Britain are expected to be welcomed by those who vote for the Labor Party. Brown believes that today’s world is different from the past and not  one dimensional anymore. In the new multi-dimensional world Iran and North Korea should be dealt with more carefully. It looks like he’s going to negotiate with Iran.

It is expected that Brown starts negotiations with Iran about the future of Iraq. Brown’s advisers hope that by this shift of approach the public consider him as an independent person, not a follower of the United States like Tony Blair.

The presence of the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as the Secretary of Justice (a new ministry born out of the ministry of Interior) in the new cabinet can cement Britain’s realistic view towards matters of Middle East and Iran, since London-Tehran ties had warmed up during his tenure as foreign secretary. Straw tried to take a more realistic approach towards Iran, compared with other contemporary European politicians however, this policy was foiled due to U.S.’s pressures.

Straw’s dismissal which was said to be due to his stiff resistance against any military option, caused disappointment among public opinion about London softening its policies. The return of Straw can be viewed as a message to the disappointed and the optimists towards his approach.

Presence of British Troops in Iraq: Although it is not expected that the British troops leave Iraq completely in the coming months,  political changes in Britain not only promise the decrease of troops in Iraq, but a reduction is necessary for the Labor Party’s victory in the coming elections and made the support of public opinion for the party Brown leads urgent. One reason for the drastic fall of public* support for Blair’s government was his overemphasis on unverified data about Iraq’s WMDs before attacking this country.

 But during his meeting some days before the start of his Premiership, Gordon Brown declared that he’ll ask questions from the members of the cabinet about the independence of the existing analyses about Iraq’s WMDs. Meanwhile he stressed that his visit to Iraq has reinforced his idea of English troop withdrawal from this country. However, on the issue of Iraq, Brown’s former support of U.S. policies and his close ties with the Bush administration shouldn’t be forgotten.

But it seems that Brown has faced a complicated paradox about Iraq that will challenge Britain’s traditional ties with America. Gordon Brown’s approach to the common interests of his country and U.S will be a significant matter for the Labor Party’s future.

Although he hasn’t yet specified a given time for complete withdrawal of British troops from Iraq   a decrease in the number of  forces will be on his agenda. If he wants to pursue the policies of Blair’s government, Brown must ready himself to face Britain’s public which is against the troops’ remaining in Iraq and a mounting toll.

Brown’s approach to foreign policy, whether in his statements before his ascension to the post of prime minister or in his appointments to the cabinet show a different orientation compared with the former government and they have brought hope along with objections   in the United States.

Middle East’s Crisis: One of the key appointments of Gordon Brown has been Simon McDonald, Britain’s former ambassador to Israel in place of Blair’s Nigel Shinwell as his foreign policy adviser. Appointing McDonald, who has been deeply engaged with Middle East’s crisis, to this position has raised hopes that London practically intends to resolve the crisis between Palestinians and Israelis at last.

Brown doesn’t agree with Israeli’s on taking harsh measures against Palestinians. He stresses on economic* measures in this crisis and not acting in a way that Palestinians face problems in meeting the minimum of their basic needs.

Brown has taken office at a time that this year’s Europe is totally different from  last year’s. Today we’re facing a Europe with Nicolas Sarkozy in France and Angela Merkel in Germany seizing power with a wave of public opinion behind them. Nowadays Europeans know that internal crises have a direct impact on their foreign policies. Therefore they don’t want even one of the voters to become disaffected, lest their foreign policy becomes shaky and they lose their international face.

We should wait and see whether the British politicians lean more toward America as during Blair’s reign or they’ll choose another way? With the arrival of the new government, hope for change in Britain is an opportunity that if appreciated by the resident of  #10,Downing Street  will relieve the previous tensions and begin a new era in bilateral ties.