Bella Figura in Biden | Policy

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travels to Washington. He hopes to get support for his ailing country there.

There is no doubt that Rishi Sunak loves and admires the United States. The British prime minister’s study visit to Stanford University at the turn of the century brought him not only an MBA and then high-paying hedge fund jobs. Sunak has also found happiness in love in California. He still owns a villa in Santa Monica with his wife, Akshata Murti. The politician gave up his green card only after becoming Finance Minister.

Seven months after taking over from predecessor Liz Truss, who failed disastrously, Sunak wants to make Bella Figura in Washington for the first time this week. This is the fourth meeting with US President Joe Biden in as many months, as Downing Street PR strategists like to point out. With some justification, Britons can hope the 80-year-old will take more time for his 42-year-old counterpart than it did two months ago on Biden’s flying visit to Northern Ireland. At the time, it was—on the verge of ignoring an old ally—a bi-coffee party that lasted barely half an hour, and was mocked by the London press as a “duo-latte” in reference to the popular milk coffee.

Biden likes to point out his Irish roots, but as a seasoned foreign politician, he also knows the importance of a cosmopolitan Great Britain to the cohesion of the West. Two prizes will be presented to the Prime Minister of London: an overnight stay in the President’s Official Guest House; and the first pitch at a Washington night baseball game. It can be assumed that ardent cricketer Sunak will extricate himself from this issue properly.

The Prime Minister already had significant bonus points for not being Boris Johnson. There was a deep mistrust among the Democrats of the Brexit champion and they declared themselves the favorites of former President Donald Trump. Biden regards Brexit as a serious strategic lapse, even as a “geo-strategic disaster”. Not least under pressure from Washington, Sunak signed the Windsor Agreement with Brussels at the end of February. The document aims primarily to solve Northern Ireland’s trade problems, but it also opens the door for closer cooperation between Brexit Island and the continent. How pro-king Protestants in Belfast can be persuaded to take part in an all-party government should also be on the agenda, as should co-operation on global economic and security issues.

While his predecessors have talked constantly – and in vain – of a trade agreement with the world’s second largest economy, Sunak prefers to emphasize unity in security policy. Even before the Russian invasion, London had supplied arms to Ukraine, and since then Britain has been as unequivocal in supporting Kiev as the United States. Al Jazeera is doing well within NATO, with increased defense spending and deployable troop deployments. Privately, Sunak wants to campaign again for his well-respected defense minister, Ben Wallace, as the next NATO secretary-general.

As in the clear rejection of Russian aggression, the interests of the two permanent members of the UN Security Council also coincide in their policy approach towards China. Biden has repeatedly stressed America’s protective role over Taiwan without officially departing from the “One China” policy. Sunak maintains Britain’s greater involvement in the Indo-Pacific region. The country recently joined the Trans-Pacific CPTPP agreement and is also a partner in the Aukus security alliance, the core of which is the supply of US-made nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

Because Sunak has toned down rhetoric against the nationalist communist regime in Beijing, he has come under pressure from China hawks within his own conservative party, led by former Prime Minister Truss. Their recent visit to Taiwan may have caused trouble in government offices in London. The Biden administration witnessed a similar situation last year with the visit of Nancy Pelosi, who was then still the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.

From London’s point of view, the economy should not be neglected either. Sunak will be the first British prime minister to speak to the heads of major US companies at the Business Roundtable on Thursday. It is likely that investment contracts worth billions of dollars will be agreed upon during the visit. In addition, the British wants to strengthen an international research institution and supervisory authority similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency regarding artificial intelligence.