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John Bolton, President Trump’s National Security Adviser, is often portrayed by his enemies as a throwback to the Wild West era of diplomacy. Bespectacled and moustachioed, his politics,
like his looks, are reminiscent of Teddy Roosevelt. Bolton may speak softly, but he speaks for the President. That means he carries a pretty big stick. So Bolton’s two day visit to London is
a dry run for next week’s eagerly anticipated encounter at the Biarritz G-7 summit between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson. For the latter, it goes without saying that his first appearance
as Prime Minister on the international stage will make a lasting impression, for better or worse. For the President, forging a close partnership with the UK has long been his strategic goal
— though it was frustrated by Theresa May’s stubborn refusal to take him seriously. Bolton came bearing a simple message: “We are with you.” He left Boris Johnson in no doubt that the White
House would back a no-deal Brexit “enthusiastically”, seeing it as “very much in our interests”. In the clearest expression so far of a break with past American attitudes, Bolton voiced his
fundamental objections to the European Union: “President Trump and I were leavers before there were leavers.” This is both true and important. Trump and Bolton have indeed been Brexiteers
for longer than Boris, who only made up his mind on the eve of the 2016 referendum. Decades before the present US administration took office, Bolton was a regular visitor to London to meet
British Atlanticists and Eurosceptics. As UN ambassador under George W. Bush, he shared the then President’s commitment to promoting democracy as a global mission, notably but not only in
Afghanistan and the Middle East. Even then, he was caustic about the lack of support Bush received from the EU — with the sole exception of Britain. On one of his visits after leaving
office, Bolton was speaking at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival when the _Guardian_ columnist George Monbiot tried to stage a “citizen’s arrest”. The police, who had been forewarned,
protected Bolton. Coming a few years after the detention in Britain of the former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet, however, the stunt was intended to intimidate rather than incarcerate
its target. Bolton is not easily daunted, however, and his visits here have continued ever since. The main focus of Bolton’s current sojourn is trade. His message here is also simple: don’t
take too much notice of the Irish lobby in Congress, which has threatened to veto any moves towards Anglo-American free trade in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Even if a comprehensive trade
agreement were held up in the House or Senate, Bolton insists, piecemeal trade deals could be rolled out first. Some experts are dubious about this approach, arguing that any lowering of
standards here to accommodate the US would inhibit trade with the EU. But the Trump administration’s enthusiasm is surely welcome. As National Security Adviser, Bolton sees free trade as a
tactical means to the strategic end of advancing democratic capitalism throughout the world. He wants British support in resisting global threats that include Iran’s piracy in the Gulf,
Russia’s advocacy of authoritarianism and China’s cyber-imperialism. Together with Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, Bolton is guiding President Trump towards a reassertion of the
“manifest destiny” of the United States to spread freedom and democracy. “Britain’s success in exiting the EU is a statement about democratic rule,” he declared yesterday. Bolton is a
Reaganite rather than a neoconservative, but he endorses the neocon critique of Obama’s “post-American presidency”. Yesterday, he criticised Obama, “a prior American President”, for
threatening to send the UK to “the back of the queue”, insisting that “in the Trump administration Britain is constantly at the front of the trade queue, or line as we say”. Will Boris buy
what Bolton is selling? It is a vision of a resurgent America — no longer the world’s policeman, but leading by example — with Britain playing a significant but as yet unspecified part.
Everything depends on how Trump and Johnson define their respective roles. During the 19th century, the key concept was the balance of power, upheld by British hard and soft power. After the
world wars, the United States assumed Britain’s role and maintained it throughout the Cold War. Pax Americana succeeded Pax Britannica. Now China is challenging the balance of power by
asserting its claim to global as well as regional hegemony, with Russia as its ally. The question of the day is: who will stop them? In the US administration, Bolton plays Kissinger to
Trump’s Nixon. He is, in other words, far more than a mere adviser. It is pure serendipity that Bolton and Boris have known each other for more than 20 years and that they see eye to eye on
most things. This could be a period, like that of Reagan and Thatcher, when the special relationship really is special. The auguries are good. Whether this Prime Minister has the ability to
make the relationship be seen to work not only for America, but also for Britain, remains to be seen.