Chaos in Sudan, Biden vs. Sunak, and the fall of Braverman?

Is the Special Relationship between the UK and the US falling apart? How can the world come to Sudan's aid? And is Suella Braverman finally on her last legs?

Tune in to hear Alastair and Rory discuss all this and more on today's episode of The Rest is Politics.

Producers: Dom Johnson + Nicole Maslen

Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport

[queenvrook]

One thing bothers me about the comparison between the 90's response to Bosnia and the current non-response to Sudan. During the "90's moment, " when the Western Powers intervened in the former Yugoslavia, there was also an enormous genocide going on in Rwanda about which those powers did essentially nothing, including very little press coverage. It's not a change in the times, it's the persistence of attitudes of colonialism toward the continent of Africa. Nothing that happens in Africa really concerns the West, unless it disrupts the continued extraction of raw materials or affects European settlers.

[gsaem]

Since you mentioned Norway and Scotland. During the Scottish referendum a Norwegian pundit wrote with tongue in cheek: “Five million people in a scarcely populated country, living off energy and financial services. This is never going to work!”

[jamesgosling]

You are both legends. It’s a shame Rory isn’t in power.

[jonathantsbower]

Thanks, gentlemen, for your brilliant podcasts and insights. I share your sadness at the shocking and unnecessary decline of the UK's soft power.

[imck]

As a Scot I'm jealous of Norway. ...used it's oil for a wealth fund to benefit all its people whereas Westminster...

[QuantumWalnut]

Britain can still be a great power, but it has to be part of EU to project that influence.

Small / medium-sized countries have known this since the dawn of time. You are vulnerable on your own, but strong in soldiarity with others.

Britain just needs to wake up from the hangover of British Empire and get on with the program.

[bisratezra]

I live in Sweden. and during my lifetime people around the world have been idealizing this country to the extreme (imo). There is, however, one exception: the English. Whilst others have marvelled at the Nobel Prize and the Swedish welfare state, English people have basically wondered whether Sweden has got electricity yet. Hearing Alastair and Rory talking about England's tendency to overestimate herself in relation to others, these memories spring to mind. As an anglophile I wish for the UK to start being more realistic so that it can solve its problems more successfully and move forward faster into the future.

[grahampaulkendrick]

The 'Special Relationship' is long gone.

[graham]

It seems to me that stability matters more than foreign countries' ideals to these smaller / developing nations. They are willing to trade and deal with China and Russia over the US regardless of their (western described) morality, because they are stable and do not change their stance on a whim. The US isn't particularly stable at all, they start wars, they elect people who deride countries as "shit holes", they threaten to and sometimes do invade sovereign nations to kill people they deem "bad", they flip flop on whether they're an ally or not (Kurds), they rely on assistance from locals and then leave them to be killed once they're bored and go home. The US has not been a reliable ally to many countries over the past decades, so it makes sense that they're not as highly regarded.
They should probably work on that, but then there's a chance that Trump gets back in at the next election, the current house is held hostage by the far right loonies so maybe they're doing about as well as they can.

[Morf]

18:14 USA and USSR both had extreme ideologies really. One Communist and the other, total free market Capitalism. When communism fell, the USA thought it was unbeatable and spent 14 years acting like that. However, the two countries were inextricably linked like a ying yang. The absence of one meant the other couldn't continue to survive. USA was no longer the light of liberty and became almost as oppressive, globally, as the USSR threatened to be. Then add in a global financial meltdown caused by said free market capitalist country and its easy to see why they are waning.

[paulfr]

Biden, and indeed all Americans thinking they're Irish will always be hilarious to me.

[sbwords]

I'd be more receptive to these two if they’d acknowledge that the chaos was in part caused by them. In particular, Campbell is willfully blind to the role he played. He has an incredible capacity for self-deceit.

[veeday]

Tempted to subscribe to the European just to get a Bollocks to Brexit passport cover. Disappointed that it says no such thing and my current maroon EU passport will have to suffice until it runs out next year. Looks like I’ll have to make my own Bollocks to Brexit one then.

[lutherblissett]

The Iraq war had a catastrophic effect on US soft power. On the economic front the GFC forced the west to retreat inwards, while allowing Chinese expansion. In the social media age with powerful Russian and Chinese propaganda it's hard to see how the US ever gets back the ground it lost since 9/11.

[imck]

Boris Johnson and not a few Tories with English constituencies hate Scots. ... calling them scroungers etc while simultaneously denying them a vote on leaving UK

[Snick]

Another fine broadcast, chaps… Question: Will the SNP's skeletons prove to be the death rattle both of the party and of Scottish independence? (From a Scottish emigrant to Philadelphia, where we know a little something about finessing independence.)

[peterdollins]

Sunak has completely backed Braverman so what Rory the Tory is saying on Sunak/Braverman is rubbish complete.

[albertbrammer]

The DUP do not want the Good Friday Agreement unless they have the first minister. They thought they would always have that place.

[honeybozo]

Brilliant broadcast about managing relationships and the failure of doing so having consequences….

Trump being the legacy of Obama sounds a bit harsh on Barry’s ability, when one opens with Biden’s visit as he clearly is still enamoured with him and realises that he wouldn’t be POTUS without the black vote.

It really still is a shame that Hillary arrogantly flunked it.

[qeitkas]

After almost 10 years the UK understands what it means to be at the back of the queue. You get less attention from other leaders. Nothing strange about this. Politics is a hard business. Rory shows itself as a soar looser in this matter.