Excerpt
June 12, 2024, Interview: "But the real moment comes when, because of Suez but slightly later, the British withdraw from East of Suez. The then government of my country accept that they are no longer a power across the world. The equivalent effect would be the United States withdrawing from the Western Pacific. Because of the significance of that for Beijing, I would expect Beijing to be very active in your backyard, in Latin America and in Central America and elsewhere, as of course up to the point they are. And I think one of the failures of US foreign policy over many, many decades has been in relations with Latin America and taking for granted that they’re weak and thinking that you’re protected by two oceans. I’ve heard it a few times in the States, not often, it is, “Well, we don’t even need cooperation with Europe to handle this contest with China. We can do it on our own,” to which the answer is yes, you may be able to, but the probability of that isn’t high enough for you to proceed on this basis.” —Paul Tucker"