Truss needs to put her gaffe-prone days as foreign secretary behind her if she wants international respect
Her foreign policy seems likely to be driven by a firm belief in the values of freedom and less by pragmatism.
Wednesday 7 September 2022 00:27, UK
Liz Truss wants Britain to play a robust assertive role on the world stage.
She wants a Britain that believes in its values and stands up for them, say aides. That could mean confrontation and no easing of tensions, particularly when it comes to Russia and China.
But she faces challenges. Her domestic agenda will be a constant distraction. And to achieve what she wants will require support from allies which could be undermined by wrangling over Northern Ireland and Brexit. And to be taken seriously she must get past the damage done to her authority by her gaffe-prone time in office as foreign secretary.
As Britain's chief diplomat a series of geographical faux-pas exposed her to ridicule. She seemed to confuse the Baltic and Black seas. She insisted Britain would never recognise parts of Russia that have always been regarded as sovereign Russian territory. And she was mocked on social media for calling the Irish premier a Tea Sock, rather than Taoiseach.
On the plus side she was the foreign secretary who finally persuaded Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's tormentors in Teheran to release her and who presided over a G7 foreign ministers meeting in Liverpool last year that set the stage for a surprisingly resolute and united stance against Russia.
When she speaks about the UK's role in the world Liz Truss advocates a more positive and confident Britain no longer racked by guilt and shame over its colonial past.
Her aides say Liz Truss has conviction and principles, a firm belief in the values of freedom that underpin what she calls a network of liberty among allies. Her foreign policy seems more likely to be driven by those principles, less by pragmatism.
So on China she is likely to break with previous conservative prime ministers' reluctance to risk antagonising its government too much, for fear of economic consequences. In private, she has reportedly been willing to call Beijing's appalling treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang a genocide. Her willingness to do so in public will be a key test of her new foreign policy.
Her hawkish stance on Russia has made her the bête noire of the Kremlin. Its officials have sought to ridicule her. Her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov said talking to her was like a dialogue between the deaf and the dumb and that facts simply "bounce" off her.
A need for pragmatism
The Kremlin's acerbic spokesman Dmitri Peskov says it is "hard to imagine anything worse" than Truss running the UK. Liz Truss will likely welcome that as a badge of honour. She has been a staunch advocate of supporting Ukraine and arming it with heavy weapons.
But to achieve her aims she will need to show pragmatism when it comes to dealing with her allies. She could face a challenge cajoling them to maintain a firm line on Russia as winter's fuel shortages and cost of living crisis begins to bite.
And they have already warned that a condition of good relations will be Britain honouring commitments made over Northern Ireland in the Brexit agreements.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, has already issued a thinly veiled warning saying "we face many challenges together from climate change to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I look forward to a constructive relationship in full respect of our agreements".
Truss will need skilful diplomacy to square those considerations with the demands of Brexiteers who helped propel her to power.
A Thatcher in search of a Reagan
US president and Irish-American Joe Biden will have similar concerns about Brexit and Northern Ireland. She will hope to work on a close relationship with him when she visits the US for the UN General Assembly this month.
America means more to her than one president though. Supporters say she believes passionately in the Atlantic alliance and the principles it is built on. She may be a Thatcher in search of a Reagan, though for the time being at least with Biden unlikely to fill that role.
As foreign secretary Liz Truss spent too much time with foot firmly in mouth, her aides working overtime to explain away her gaffes.
She will need to build a strong team to avoid doing the same as prime minister and will need to show more finesse if she wants to win the respect and support of allies and make Britain the assertive, confident player she says she envisages on the world stage.