A world in which the United States does not support its allies will be “rather more dangerous”, former prime minister Sir John Major warned.
He said democracy is under threat and “tin-pot dictators” would be emboldened if Donald Trump rushes into a peace deal that leaves Vladimir Putin in control of Ukrainian territory.
And he said if the US “retreats towards isolation” it would leave the door open for China and Russia to wield increased influence.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the world is changing and that it’s reshaping, that it may not be reshaping in a way that’s congenial to the West and that it’s a very unsettled time indeed,” Sir John said.
Speaking to the BBC’s The World This Weekend he said: “The President’s phone call to Putin, in which we learned that negotiations to end the war would start immediately. There had been no consultation with Ukraine or anyone else.
“He then made concessions to Russia, which I think is fairly unprecedented, having made perfectly clear that the US troops would not defend Ukraine, that Russia might be able to keep land that Putin had taken by force, that Ukraine would not be able to join Nato.
“These were all unilateral remarks from the present administration in the United States to the world.
“Yet consider what happens if Russia can claim a win: China is going to notice that, and so will the world, and so will every tin-pot dictator around the world.
“If America is not to stand behind its allies in the way the world has previously seen, then we are moving into a wholly different and in my view, rather more dangerous world.”
Sir John warned that if a “very aggressive” Russia was to “succeed in their adventure in Ukraine, no doubt they would be elsewhere before too long”.
He suggested that “if America behaves in this fashion and retreats towards isolation, she leaves the door open to China and Russia”.
“And the free world, I believe, now fears that America, with all her great power and prestige and all that she has done to keep the world safe in recent years, may now be turning her back on the international responsibilities she has previously taken.”
In a pessimistic assessment of the state of the world, he said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that democracy is threatened. It’s been in modest decline for the last 18 years. There’s an ugly nationalism growing mostly from the intolerant right.”
Press Association – David Hughes
