As was often the case, Oscar Wilde was clever and witty but mistaken. There are worse things than being talked about but not being talked about is one of them.
For evidence of this we need do little more than consult this graphic compiled by our friends at Politico. Derived from an analysis of more than 2,000 speeches made since he became President, it shows how often various countries have been mentioned by Barack Obama. You will notice that the United Kingdom does not feature.
This is a very good thing indeed.
Of course, it has not been treated as such by some. See this, eh? So much for the so-called ‘Special Relationship’, eh? Hahahahaha. This snark is bipartisan. It’s equally the preserve of those who scoff at Britain’s global pretensions and those who think Britain should aspire to play a meaningful role in world affairs and would like the American president to recognise this more frequently than seems to be the case.
But there is something craven about that latter sentiment; a neediness that is ultimately unbecoming. The kind of bed-wetting, hand-wringing insecurity that beats itself into a lather over vital questions such as whether or not Barack Obama keeps a bust of Winston Churchill in the Oval Office and, if he does not, what that says about him, the United States and the future of the Atlantic alliance. (Hint: it says absolutely nothing at all about any of it.)
It is true that Obama has a less immediate or obvious affinity with this country than was the case for many, though certainly not all, his predecessors. But so what? If the alliance is strong it does not depend for its existence upon the personal rapport between Presidents and Prime Ministers; if it is not strong then not even warm feelings between these parties can save it.
And it is strong, not least because – on the whole – it continues to be based upon shared interests rather than the alignment of political personalities.
Moreover, look at the list of countries featured on that map: few of them are entirely happy places. As a general rule, if the President of the United States is talking about you bad things are probably happening. Of course there are exceptions to that but the essential rule continues to apply.
Obama hasn’t talked about or even mentioned Britain very often because there is no good reason for him to do so. Because this is, despite everything, still a tolerably successful, modestly happy, decent, country. A country unroiled by drama or trauma; a country more at ease with itself than its media or political classes would have you believe.
There have been mercifully few events in the United Kingdom these past eight years that have demanded a response or reaction from the American president. The contrast here with France is instructive. There has been no Charlie Hebdo, no Bataclan here. (At least not yet). Britain is a country in which little happens. This too is a good thing.
Nor, on the whole, does is this a country that needs outside validation. It doesn’t need to be Sally Field, gushing at the Oscars that ‘You really, really like me‘. And thank heavens for that as well.
In many ways, David Cameron’s great strength is that there is no there there. There are no hidden depths or secret shallows. What you see is what you get and that is, on the whole and most of the time, enough. He does not inspire and this is welcome. The country potters along anyway, always grumbling but rarely in real or grave crisis. Could matters be arranged more satisfactorily? Of course they could but a political society that craves a hero is a society in some trouble. Britain is not in so much trouble that it needs heroic leaders. This is a greater consolation than many people appear to understand.
So it is good, in this instance, to be ignored. The problems start when the American president starts to talk about you. Long may this remain unnecessary. Happy is the land that has no need for heroes; happy, too, the land secure enough to appreciate how lucky it actually is.
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