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Peaceful coexistence is better than punching above our weight Peaceful coexistence is better than punching above our weight
(about 20 hours later)
Letters
Tue 14 Nov 2017 18.23 GMT
Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 13.47 GMT
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Jonathan Powell laments that Britain no longer “punches above its weight” (Brexit Britain has rendered itself irrelevant, Opinion, 13 November) with “punching” being the operative word in the literal sense. The foreign policy that Powell is nostalgic for, the one he was most intimately involved in – the disastrous Blairite doctrine of intervention in other countries even if our national interests are not at stake – has punched its way through Afghanistan and Iraq leaving nothing but devastation, with hundreds of thousands dead and even more wounded. The consequences of these wars and other interventions such those in Libya continue to haunt these regions. Implicit within the vote to leave the EU was that the UK will seek a different role for itself, for the old one has so clearly failed – a new role based on peaceful coexistence, non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, respect for other nations, and trade with other countries based on mutual benefits.Fawzi IbrahimLondonJonathan Powell laments that Britain no longer “punches above its weight” (Brexit Britain has rendered itself irrelevant, Opinion, 13 November) with “punching” being the operative word in the literal sense. The foreign policy that Powell is nostalgic for, the one he was most intimately involved in – the disastrous Blairite doctrine of intervention in other countries even if our national interests are not at stake – has punched its way through Afghanistan and Iraq leaving nothing but devastation, with hundreds of thousands dead and even more wounded. The consequences of these wars and other interventions such those in Libya continue to haunt these regions. Implicit within the vote to leave the EU was that the UK will seek a different role for itself, for the old one has so clearly failed – a new role based on peaceful coexistence, non-interference in the internal affairs of other nations, respect for other nations, and trade with other countries based on mutual benefits.Fawzi IbrahimLondon
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• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
Foreign policy
Brexit
Tony Blair
Iraq
Afghanistan
Article 50
letters
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