In the three weeks since he took office, President Biden has taken decisive action to end the isolationist approach of his predecessor. The United States has rejoined the Paris Agreement, reversed the planned withdrawal from the World Health Organisation and ended travel restrictions from Muslim-majority countries.
These decisions are a rejection of the divisive politics of America First and a recognition that US national interests are best advanced through engagement with the world. We lead, Biden said, “not by the example of our power but by the power of our example”.
This week’s announcement that the United States will end all American support to Saudi Arabia’s offensive operations in Yemen was part of Biden’s pledge to restore US “moral leadership” and take the steps necessary to end America’s role in a conflict that has created the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. Key figures in the Biden administration have had the courage to recognise that their earlier support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen was wrong.
It leaves the UK government increasingly exposed, not just for failing to show similar moral leadership, but for its deeply hypocritical approach to Yemen.
The UK is the “penholder” on Yemen at the UN security council, which means it has the power to draft resolutions to support efforts to end the conflict. The UK therefore has a special responsibility to do all it can to advance the peace process. At the same time, the government has licensed the sale of at least £5.3bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the war began in March 2015, as well as providing training and technical support. The UK government has been calling for an end to violence, while simultaneously supplying the weapons necessary to prolong the conflict.
President Biden’s decision casts an uncomfortable spotlight on the UK government. The shameful neglect of our leadership role at the UN and continued licensing of arms to facilitate Saudi-led offensives is unsustainable. It is a stance that leaves the UK increasingly isolated on the global stage, with countries including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands already banning the export of arms to Saudi Arabia.
The UK government now faces a choice: to join Biden and live up to its obligations as UN penholder by ending the UK’s involvement in the Saudi campaign, or to continue to act as both peacekeeper and warmonger, undermining any moral leadership they might claim.
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With each day that passes, the UK finds itself further alienated from the efforts of the international community to secure peace in Yemen, and the prime minister more isolated from a US administration he is desperate to build ties with. It is in Britain’s interests that he changes course.
