If American Democrats were superstitious, they would see Labour’s recent election victory as a good omen. For the past forty years, British policy has had the advantage – or disadvantage – of being superior to North American policy. Margaret Thatcher anticipated the arrival of Ronald Reagan and the “conservative revolution” he led, and Brexit was the opening of a right-wing populism of which Donald Trump is one of the highest expressions.

London values ​​its “special relationship” with Washington so much that it is prepared for anything. If Kamala Harris wins, she will have an ally in Starmer. If Trump wins, the story gets complicated, because he has a very different ideology and the new Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, is dedicated to his interests. praise (as a “psychopath, a Nazi sympath who hates women”) while active in the opposition ranks.

The new prime minister has distanced himself from Netanyahu and lifted a British blockade on his possible arrest.

But even in that scenario, the Starmer government has a plan B, especially now that it has embarked on a process of resetting relations with the EU and opening up a new phase of post-Brexit cooperation. If the Republicans win the White House, with the German economy in crisis and Macron in a sorry state, the Labour leader will try to play Merkel’s role as a bridge between the two sides of the Atlantic.

In two weeks Starmer has taken an intensive course in foreign policy. With Europe, he has been proactive, laying the groundwork for an approach based on small steps, even though he knows that Brussels will not give him anything in the way of commercial terms. He has been cautious with the United States, waiting to see what happens in November. With Ukraine, he has reaffirmed his support for Zelensky, but he has been reluctant to give his blessing to the missiles he has provided to attack targets on Russian territory (he says he needs the consent of France and other allies). And with China, the idea is to play both sides, opposing China’s human rights abuses and treating China as a “rival” but not as a “partner” or “enemy”, because Chinese investment is very welcome.

The most visible change so far has been towards Israel, with the end of the UK blockade over the possible arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court. The explanation is domestic politics, as Labour lost five seats in the election in constituencies with large Muslim populations, to independent candidates who focused their campaigns exclusively on what is happening in Gaza. For Starmer, who has struggled to eradicate anti-Semitism from his party and whose wife has Jewish family, this is a serious warning.

The British Prime Minister is aware that in his five years in office, there will inevitably be international crises (Taiwan, the rise of terrorism in the Sahel, humanitarian disasters, the impact of natural disasters, and humanitarian disasters). tripartite Iran-North Korea-Russia, of course the Middle East…). Especially if Trump wins, amidst the advance of the far right in Europe and France in the midst of instability, he believes that much of the world will look to British social democracy as a beacon, and Britain will see that it has a chance to redeem itself from the spectacular own goal that is Brexit.