SEPTEMBER 2019

The Prospective Foreign Policy of a Corbyn Government and its U.S. National Security Implications

DR. AZEEM IBRAHIM © 2019 Hudson Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Cover: A flag supporting Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn flies with Big Ben in the background during the “Not One Day More” march at Parliament Square on July 1, 2017 in London, England. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images) SEPTEMBER 2019

The Prospective Foreign Policy of a Corbyn Government and its U.S. National Security Implications

DR. AZEEM IBRAHIM AUTHOR

Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is a Research Professor at the Strategic Studies Policy, Chicago Tribune, LA Times and Newsweek. He is also the Institute, U.S. Army War College and member of the Board of author of “The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Hidden Genocide” Directors at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (Hurst 2016) and “Radical Origins: Why We Are Losing the War and Political Violence at the Department of War Studies at Kings Against Islamic Extremism” (Pegasus 2017). College London University. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge after which he completed fellowships at the universities Outside academia, Dr. Ibrahim has been a reservist in the IV of Oxford, Harvard and Yale. Battalion Parachute Regiment and an award-winning entrepreneur. He was ranked as a Top 100 Global Thinker by the European Social Dr. Ibrahim has published hundreds of articles in the likes of The Think Tank in 2010 and named a Young Global Leader by the World New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Telegraph, Foreign Economic Forum.

4 | HUDSON INSTITUTE TABLE OF CONTENTS

Author 4

Foreword by Rt. Hon. Sir Malcolm Rifkind 6

Acronyms and Names 7

Executive Summary 9

Introduction 11

Models and Practice of International Relations 13 Corbyn’s International Relations Framework and Its Pro-Soviet Influences 13 Traditional Models and Universal Human Rights 14 Intellectual Strands behind Corbyn’s Model 15 From the Labour Left 15 From the Communist Party of Great Britain 15 From the “New Left” 16 From Eurocommunism 16

Corbyn’s Political Actions across Various Regions 17 Bosnia 17 Kosovo 18 Syria 18 Iran and Saudi Arabia 19 Russia 20 Venezuela 21 Scotland & Northern Ireland 22 Nuclear Weapons 22 Multinational Institutions: The European Union and NATO 23

Implications for the U.S. 24 Relations with the Republican and Democratic Parties 25 NATO 25 Security 25 Israel and Anti-Semitism 25

Summary 27

References 30

Endnotes 35 FOREWORD BY RT. HON. SIR MALCOLM RIFKIND

Dr. Azeem Ibrahim has developed a well-deserved reputation as It is also highly unlikely that any Corbyn-led government would have a thoughtful analyst of the threats and challenges facing modern a majority in the House of Commons, and it would thus need the society. support of at least some opposition MPs to win votes in Parliament.

His study of Jeremy Corbyn’s foreign policy beliefs and prejudices will However, President Trump has shown how much can be done add to that reputation and deserves to be read by all those interested simply by a combination of tweets, speeches, and executive orders. in, and concerned by, contemporary political developments in the That is how he has pursued much of his policy on international trade, United Kingdom. Dr. Ibrahim not only offers his own views and on climate change, on China, and on Russia. conclusions but backs them up with copious factual extracts from Corbyn’s own statements, speeches, and actions over many years, Corbyn as prime minister would have little of the global power of during a time when he must have had little expectation of taking a US president, but serious damage he could do. His speeches leadership of the Labour Party and being seen as a potential prime and statements would be reported throughout the world and bring minister. comfort to unpleasant regimes in Moscow, Caracas, Tehran, and Beijing. He could also weaken the UK’s impressive intelligence Dr. Ibrahim demonstrates how Corbyn’s worldview is warped and agencies by depriving them of funds and ordering them to change lacks any ethical foundation. He provides numerous illustrations their investigative priorities. indicating that Corbyn has no belief in universal human rights and is prepared to excuse atrocities and persecution if they are carried Azeem Ibrahim has a distinguished academic background. His out by governments he approves of, such as Maduro’s Venezuela or report should be read in the White House and the State Department Putin’s Russia. and in other capitals. Hopefully, it will be read in the United Kingdom as well and help ensure that Corbyn is never entrusted with power. He concludes that Corbyn, if he were to obtain power, would do grave damage not only to the United Kingdom and the West but Sir Malcolm Rifkind was a Minister at the UK Foreign Office from to the cause of democracy and liberal values throughout the world. 1982-86. He then served as Defense Secretary from 1992-95 and as Foreign Secretary from 1995-97. From 2010-15 he served as Dr. Ibrahim acknowledges that if Corbyn became the UK’s prime Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, with oversight minister there would be serious limits on his power to deliver of the UK’s intelligence agencies. the kind of foreign policy he believes in. A substantial majority of Labour members of Parliament would disagree with any attempt to He is a Visiting Professor at the Department of War Studies, Kings take Britain out of NATO and would not share any enthusiasm for College, London. tolerating the Kremlin’s aggression in Ukraine.

6 | HUDSON INSTITUTE ACRONYMS AND NAMES

The information below provides a short list of individuals and groups INDIVIDUALS mentioned in the paper who may not be immediately recognizable to readers. Name Robin Cook Labour foreign secretary from 1997 to 2001 ACRONYMS and leader of the House of Commons until 2003. Tried to introduce the concept of an Initials Title “ethical” foreign policy with an emphasis on AAM Anti-Apartheid Movement human rights. Resigned over opposition to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. CND Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament Tony Benn A leading left-wing politician in the British CPB Communist Party of Britain (successor to the CPGB) Labour Party in the 1970s and 1980s. His CPGB Communist Party of Great Britain supporters were often called Bennites. EC European Community Seumas Milne Jeremy Corbyn’s spokesman and influential advisor. Previously a member of the hard- EEC European Economic Community line, pro-Soviet elements in the CPGB and EU European Union has a long record of supporting Russian IRA Irish Republican Army president Vladimir Putin’s actions, both within the former Soviet Union and more KLA Kosovo Liberation Army widely. NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization Len McCluskey Leader of the British trade union Unite. Very OPCW Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons influential over Corbyn, not least as Unite provides most of the funding for Corbyn’s PCE Communist Party of Spain private office and has provided him with a PCI Italian Communist Party number of policy advisors who previously SDLP Social Democratic and Labour Party worked for the union. SNP Scottish National Party John Pilger Australian journalist who made his reputation exposing the crimes of the Khymer Rouge StWC Stop the War Coalition in Cambodia. Now writes predictably anti- SWP Socialist Workers Party Western, anti-“imperialist” articles, often cited by Corbyn in support of his positions.

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 7 POLITICAL MOVEMENTS AND GROUPS

Name Summary The Tribune Group A left-wing grouping in the British Labour Party, important from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, which lost influence after that. New Left An umbrella term for a wide spread of left-wing groups that emerged in the 1960s. Most had concerns about the USSR and tended to make anti-imperialism their core policy. Some were openly Trotskyist in their politics, others more eclectic. Eurocommunism The policy developed in the 1970s by the Italian and Spanish Communist Parties, which became very critical of the USSR and adopted a focus on universal human rights. Both parties backed opposition movements within the Warsaw Pact states. Scottish National Party Now a broadly left-of-center party that argues for Scotland to be independent of the UK. On other electoral issues it has similar policies to the Labour Party, so the two are effectively competing for the same segment of the Scottish electorate, leading to strained relations between them. Social Democratic and Labour Party The Northern Irish sister party of the Labour Party. Notionally supports the nonviolent unification of Ireland, and its MPs used to sit with (and vote for) the Labour Party in the UK House of Commons. It competes with Sinn Féin for the vote of the Catholic nationalist communities in Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin The political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). In the period from 1968 to 1991, its senior membership overlapped with that of the IRA. It contests UK parliamentary elections but refuses to send MPs to the House of Commons, as it believes the 1922 partition of Ireland to be illegal. In practical terms, it has come to supplant completely the SDLP in the voting preferences of the nationalist segment of Northern Ireland. Communist Party of Great Britain Founded in 1920 and formally dissolved in 1991. By the 1970s, it was largely irrelevant in UK politics but remained important in some trade unions and in the type of organizations and campaigns set up by the wider British left at various times.

8 | HUDSON INSTITUTE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Given the current state of UK politics, with the Conservative Syria, Venezuela, and China) and a larger number of anti-imperialist government focused almost exclusively on Brexit and the resulting movements (such as Hamas and Hezbollah) are threatened by the electoral uncertainty, the likelihood of a government headed by United States and the “West.” The latter is a rather amorphous Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has increased substantially. concept but appears to include the major states and shared The last UK-wide elections—in 2019, for the European Parliament— institutions of the post–World War II international order (including suggested that in England and Wales, the vote was spread relatively military alliances such as NATO and diplomatic and economic evenly across four political parties (in Scotland, the nationalist SNP alliances such as the European Union). As shown below, Corbyn dominated, meaning that each seat was contested by five main has tended to assume an automatically pro-Russian stance over a parties). In addition, with the “first past the post” electoral system, range of issues, including tensions within the former Soviet Union, predictions of who might win a general election are problematic. Syria, and how the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia describes bodies The UK electoral system means the party with the largest number of such as NATO and the EU. votes in each constituency gains the seat in the House of Commons and it is feasible for a party with an overall lower share of the vote to If Corbyn’s foreign policy is enacted, this suggests the Corbyn win more seats than this would indicate depending on how evenly government will play a disruptive role. Some of this will be defended their votes are spread across the country. With two major parties, as a correction away from Saudi Arabia and Israel (but toward this is rarely a problem, with four (or five) more or less evenly sharing Iran instead). In other ways, his models of international politics the vote, there is a real risk of an outcome (number of MPs) that is and international trade mean he sees little value in multilateral very different to the actual share of the votes. organizations, so there will be another force pulling apart these long- standing alliances. This is not to argue that such bodies should be On this basis, it is essential to consider what might be the foreign beyond criticism, or that they would not benefit from reform, but policy choices of a Corbyn government and how this might affect the the key is that Corbyn has no interest in such nuances. These United Kingdom’s allies, especially the United States. Corbyn seeks organizations support imperialism and capitalism and must, to use to present his foreign policy as one of support for the oppressed, his own words, be defeated. of opposition to wars and invasions, and as an extension of former Labour foreign secretary Robin Cook’s “ethical” foreign policy. As To explore these issues, this paper takes two approaches. First there this paper makes clear, this framing is deceptive—and consciously is a consideration of the underpinnings and logic behind Corbyn’s so. Corbyn has a long record of supporting human rights abusers, view of international relations. That this largely focuses on the debates as long as they are, in his terms, on the right side, and opposed and disputes between relatively small sections of the British left in to U.S. or Western imperialism. Even his vaunted support for the the late 1970s may be a surprise to some. However, the views held Palestinians falls away when they are attacked by the Bashar al- by Corbyn and his close advisors were all formed in this milieu, and Assad’s regime rather than Israel. Equally, while it is true that he to understand their likely future choices it is essential to explore the would seek to end the UK’s current support for Saudi Arabia, he intellectual underpinnings. This is followed by brief discussions of would simply replace it with support for Iran. Corbyn’s actual response to a number of international issues. These provide evidence for what his views actually mean in practice, and a If a Corbyn foreign policy will not be an attempt to promote human number of themes recur: rights and international cooperation over issues such as climate change, then what will it be? This paper argues that in Corbyn’s 1. He has a binary worldview, with imperialism and capitalism on worldview, a small number of anti-imperialist states (Russia, Iran, one side and opposition to them on the other.

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 9 2. He condemns human rights abuses by those he sees as 3. We will see a clear break with the traditional Western preferences supporting imperialism but is dismissive of the abuses carried out for Israel and Saudi Arabia in Middle Eastern policymaking. This by regimes he himself supports. He tends to see any domestic may be a much-needed rebalancing, but, in reality, it will be opponents of such regimes not as legitimate protesters but as replaced by close support for Iran. agents of Western imperialism. 4. We can expect a greater tolerance for the Putin regime’s actions 3. He identifies a number of states (such as Russia, Venezuela, and worldview, and presumably, backing for Russian actions in Syria, Iran, and, sometimes, China) as the core anti-imperialist Ukraine and possibly other former Soviet republics. states and seems to believe they are constantly being threatened by the U.S. and the wider West. How far any of this can be converted from rhetoric to practical action is debatable. There are constraints within the British political system 4. There is never any nuance in his positions, so the messy, and, in reality, these positions lack majority support among Labour brutal civil war in Syria is reduced to an anti-imperialist Assad Party members of Parliament. But even if it remains rhetorical, government struggling against jihadi and Western-sponsored it will represent a major shift in UK foreign policy. And even if the opposition groups. Missing is any reflection of the peaceful initial change is limited to the words used, the U.S. will find a Corbyn-led revolt against Assad or why over 11 million people have been government’s choices and attitudes a major departure from the UK’s forced from their homes and many have fled the country. traditional views.

5. The views of his advisors are very important and there are The implications for security and possible military cooperation important issues where it is clear they have led him to change are substantial. Some of Corbyn’s close advisors were long- his position as a result of their influence. With Putin, Corbyn term supporters of the USSR and seem to have decided that was initially critical but has increasingly come to support the Putin’s Russia is an acceptable successor. Here, they may not be regime and repeat its arguments. Over nuclear disarmament, able to implement an active policy change (toward open support he has moved from lifelong opposition to the UK possessing for Russia or Iran), but they can be expected to act to stop any nuclear weapons to support for renewal of the UK’s Trident attempts to challenge Russian expansionism. In addition, in the missile system. If we are to understand how Corbyn will frame a sharing of security information, the UK government will cease to be given issue, we need to understand the likely views of his close a reliable partner. Again, the practical issue is less that a Corbyn-led associates. government would actively side with Russia (or its allies) and more that it might block or undermine any actions it sees as inimical to In turn, this offers insights into the likely foreign policy of a Corbyn- Putin’s interests. led government: In light of the above, it would be prudent for the U.S. national security 1. In economic terms, he will support a degree of autarky and the establishment to give serious consideration to downgrading or even UK’s removal from the world economy so he can carry out his suspending a Corbyn-led government from the Five Eyes intelligence desired economic reforms. alliance and temporarily demoting its NATO membership. There is a serious risk that any information passed to either Corbyn or his close 2. In terms of international organizations, we can assume the UK allies could be compromised, especially if it involves Russia or Iran. will withdraw from the EU (despite opposition from most of the Labour Party) and will play a negative role in organizations such as NATO, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Outright withdrawal from all these bodies is unlikely due to opposition both within the Labour Party and elsewhere in the British political system.

10 | HUDSON INSTITUTE INTRODUCTION

This paper considers what a Labour government in the UK led by (for some this was seen as a needed response to weaknesses in the Jeremy Corbyn might mean in terms of international relations and UK economy, to others it was a desirable outcome in its own right). U.S. national security. It starts from a consideration of the ideas This made them hostile to the European Economic Community that have informed his worldview and then looks at how he has (EEC), the forerunner of the current European Union (EU), both on responded to events over the last two decades. The final section economic grounds and because they believed it was a political looks at how his responses reflect his theoretical underpinnings and project designed to support wider U.S. imperialism. In turn, all these what might be the practical implications for UK foreign policy and, by groups tended to view specifically the U.S. (and, more generally, extension, U.S. national security. the “West”) as the root cause of all international problems and to align themselves with what were seen as anti-imperialist movements Corbyn’s view of international relations closely follows the debates (even if they disagreed as to which movements met this criterion). and disagreements of a very small section of British politics from the late 1970s—within the Labour Party the ideas of the Tribune Group This had implications not just in orientation but in their approach and those MPs closely associated with Tony Benn; the Communist toward human rights abuses. As we will see, they were willing, Party of Great Britain (CPGB); and what can be clustered together rightly, to expose and condemn such abuses by the U.S. or its as the New Left (a spread of views developed by various Trotskyist client states, but this did not indicate any commitment to universal groups and those who had no formal party identification). As we human rights. When a movement or state they supported carried will see, there are important differences among these groups, but out abuses, they either ignored them or carefully placed them into some themes emerge consistently. All had a preference for a model context—usually stating that the abuses were a response to some of economic relations that tended toward isolationism and autarky form of provocation or imperialist action.1

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn prepares to speak to party supporters during a manifesto launch on August 30, 2016 in London, England. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 11 As this paper shows, in the main Corbyn closely reflects this mindset. key concern; it is not a nuanced critique of, say, liberal interventionism There are states and movements he supports, and he is usually blind or other models of Western foreign policy—it takes the most cynical to their human rights abuses, even while he is prepared to criticize aspects of the latter but picks a different group of friendly states. such actions by states he does not support. In effect, if your abuser is one of his supported regimes, then you have no rights and should In addition to a deep suspicion of U.S. motives in Corbyn’s longtime have no expectations. So Corbyn, often rightly, has condemned this policy circles—again not always incorrect—there is also an enduring or that action by Israel toward the Palestinians but remains silent suspicion of most post-1945 multilateral bodies. Thus, opposition when Palestinians are massacred by the Assad regime. 2 to NATO was standard and shared even in those sections of the left that had concerns about the motives and actions of the USSR. Thus, to understand Corbyn’s approach to foreign policy, we have Equally, the EEC was seen as a capitalist club and something to to revisit the debates and ideas of what was a very small spectrum “defeat.”7 There has usually been limited support for the UN, but of the British political process from the late 1970s and early 1980s. this is selective, generally in an obstructive rather than affirmative In no other modern setting do the divisions and analyses of groups way. When it comes to Syria, this has meant denying Russian that mostly no longer exist and that mostly had no mass appeal even involvement in some attacks,8 and Corbyn did not accept Assad’s at that stage, matter. This alone should be a warning about what his and Russia’s responsibility for an attack on a UN convoy until the ideas will mean in practice and the extent to which they try to fit the UN had conducted an investigation. He also did not want to accept global changes in the last forty years into a very narrow model. Russian responsibility for the Skripals’ poisoning in March 2018 until the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Consequently, Corbyn’s model and practice for international relations had conducted its investigation.9 However, since it was completed are not particularly based on a theoretical development.3 They more (and supported the view of the UK government), Corbyn has been directly reflect whether regimes and movements are considered anti- silent. Running through many of his speeches is an insistence on imperialist. The group of anti-imperialists (states such as Iran, Syria, a state’s right to act as it sees fit domestically10 —if it is a state he Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela) is deemed to be under threat by the supports. In many ways this is a return to a nation-state model of “West,” which wants to overthrow them for all kinds of nefarious international relations, but his list of favored and rejected states is reasons. This is not a policy framework but more akin to the type different from the list promoted by those on the right who tend to of conspiracy theory that so often takes root within populist political share this view of the international order.11 movements. Supporters of this view tend not to want to deal with any facts but rather to obfuscate them. In particular, any crimes that In turn, U.S. officials can expect a very different response from the UK are carried out by “anti-Western” states in their own geopolitical in respect of Russian actions, Middle East policy and more generally interests are to be supported, regardless of whether their own within various multinational bodies such as the UN and NATO. Some of population, or those who live in the countries they have invaded or these changes may reflect the mindset of the Trump administration and meddled in, might actually be opposed to these actions. In a number its greater tolerance for Putin’s regime and suspicion of international of instances—such as the wars in Syria and the former Yugoslavia bodies. On the other hand, Corbyn’s pro-Iran, pro-Venezuela attitudes and the current chaos in Venezuela—Corbyn seems uninterested in will provoke significant differences. Equally—though this is outside the messy details, preferring to deal in broad generalities.4 the scope of this paper—his domestic economic policy will be the total opposite of that promoted by the Trump administration. Even a The core of his beliefs is that if you are oppressed by an anti- Democratic administration, if it wins the 2020 elections, will find the imperialist state that he supports, then you have no rights. As UK has become a less predictable ally. a result, he has a consistent record of support for Serbia in the Balkan Wars (it was seen as socialist5) and for Assad in Syria (anti- The final section of this paper considers what all this means. It imperialist), and supports the actions and interests of what are seen clearly does not set the UK on a road toward an ethical foreign as the primary anti-imperialist states: Iran, Russia, and Venezuela.6 policy; instead it reshuffles the diplomatic pack. We could expect In practice, this makes him every bit as cynical in his formulation the UK under Corbyn to be less tolerant toward Saudi Arabia but of international relations as those he claims to see as callous, self- instead turn a blind eye to the actions of Iran (both domestically and interested supporters of regimes such as Saudi Arabia. internationally). We can probably expect less engagement with the international bodies that regulate the world economy (admittedly not This is not the ethical foreign policy of the Labour foreign secretary in the always very well). We can also probably predict what Corbyn will late 1990s, Robin Cook, redesigned and updated. It is a foreign policy say on most issues, as he has a clear list of those he supports and that accommodates dictators, aligns with human rights abusers, and those he opposes. How this can be turned into practical diplomacy denies human rights to those who oppose these regimes. This is the or international economic relations is more opaque.

12 | HUDSON INSTITUTE MODELS AND PRACTICE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The use of a model or frame of reference to inform foreign policy is on the circumstances? There is a case to argue that the Bill Clinton/ not unusual. Nor, unfortunately, is it rare for such a frame to lead to New Labour foreign policy model worked in ending the conflicts poorly judged decisions. The British state managed to create the in Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone even if it also informed the heavily disaster of Suez in 1956 using a model of its self-adopted imperial criticized decision-making in Iraq.13 role and importance in the world. New Labour in the UK and the George W. Bush presidency in the U.S. used the model of liberal interventionism to justify the invasion and post-conflict management CORBYN’S INTERNATIONAL of Iraq.12 More recently, the belief that there is no formal international RELATIONS FRAMEWORK legal framework, so states must act in their perceived self-interest, has made a return—with predictable consequences. AND ITS PRO-SOVIET INFLUENCES Thus it is not, in the abstract, a problem that Corbyn and his advisors have a model of international affairs and use this to inform Corbyn’s understanding of international relations can be best their decisions. The consequences can be severe, however, if such described as a combination of the New Left’s framing of international a model sometimes fails to generate an appropriate policy in a politics and a Bennite framing of international economic relations. particular environment. The sensible question is, does it vary based Thus, opposition to Western “imperialism” tends to be his dominant

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launches Labour's local election campaign at Stretford Sports Village on March 22, 2018 in Stretford, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 13 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn launches Labour's local election campaign at Stretford Sports Village on March 22, 2018 in Stretford, England. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

approach, and this also tends to see him offering support to any Since then, the StWC has shed most of this wider support and returned regime or group that can be characterized as anti-imperialist.14 to the type of arguments typical of the New Left’s interpretation of However, there is evidence that he has taken on a more pro-Soviet anti-imperialism. Contentiously, some senior members have indicated (in the sense of pro-Kremlin) stance in recent years. As noted support for groups in Iraq (like al-Qaeda) attacking U.S. and UK forces, below, while still a backbencher (in other words a Member of the and backing for the Muammar al-Qaddafi regime in Libya from 2011 UK Parliament who has no formal role in the Government or the to 2012. Since 2012, the StWC has offered support for Assad in Syria. Opposition), he was happy to sponsor “early day motions” criticizing Corbyn remained a committed member even as the StWC reverted Putin’s wars in the Caucasus.15 Such motions are often used in the to the simplistic anti-imperialism of the New Left. In many ways, the House of Commons by backbench MPs as a means to raise issues intellectual strands in the StWC leadership encapsulate the core of relevant to their own constituencies, to signal their opposition to Corbyn’s approach to international relations. Equally important, the an aspect of current political policy, or to raise an issue they feel is ability to claim that he was right in opposing the war in Iraq allows particularly important but is being overlooked. They almost never Corbyn to claim that taking a similar anti-Western approach in every influence government policy, meaning that they are popular with other situation is equally correct. those MPs who are on the fringes of their particular political group. Thus, Corbyn’s model of international relations is one of anti- The contrast between this criticism and Corbyn’s current approach imperialism and support for states such as Russia, Iran, and Syria, to the wars in Ukraine, annexation of Crimea, and use of chemical combined with visceral dislike of Israel as the classic imperialist state. weapons in the UK is stark. This shift reflects the background of This “Zio-centric” worldview is one reason for the anti-Semitism that Corbyn’s Labour is riddled with, as anyone who is Jewish and fails to some of those around Corbyn who came from a pro-Soviet, Stalinist sufficiently renounce any support for Israel is by definition a supporter political tradition, and this has had a direct impact on his current of imperialism. Yes, there is support for Palestine and the rights of set of international policies. It also reflects the deliberate choices by Palestinians, but only when these are threatened by Israel. Massacres the Putin regime to stress the importance of the Soviet victory over of Palestinians by Assad (both the current Syrian dictator and his Nazi Germany as a means to create a link back to the USSR and father16), when they are allied with the opposition in the Syrian civil the extent that current regime generally presents a favorable view of war, are not condemned,17 and indeed, not even mentioned. Stalin in popular media.

Corbyn has managed to unite disparate strands of the UK left around TRADITIONAL MODELS AND him, in part because he offers them a route to influence but also because their old debates about the nature of the USSR, and about UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS reform or revolution, have largely been rendered obsolete by events. This framing by Corbyn is at variance with the more usual models Thus, the political and economic strategy of the CPGB (now the of international relations. Very broadly, the main academic debates Communist Party of Britain, CPB) and the traditional interest of some in traditional models of international relations have tended to be of the Trotskyist movements in gaining a foothold in the mainstream between how state-centric the international order really should be Labour Party find renewed relevance with Corbyn in charge. Usefully, and the dispute over whether there are meaningful extra-national Corbyn leads a major political party and, at least for a while, seems legal systems,18 the human rights/liberal interventionist model,19 to have support from people focused on pragmatic concerns such and its more useful critics.20 The human rights model, in turn, has as austerity or tuition fees, allowing them to draw on a much wider tended to cause a divide between those who believe it should sit electoral base than would ever be attracted to their own policies at the center of any international order and those who believe it should replace the traditional interests of nation-states.21 The latter These varying elements came together in a British political campaign, tend to argue that issues such as climate change and the growing the Stop the War Coalition (StWC), which emerged shortly after the international refugee crises need to be dealt with because these are 9/11 attacks on the U.S. It was founded by individuals with links to now the real threats to the established states and their existing elites. the CPB and the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party and supported The former draw on post–World War II decisions to enshrine the idea by left-wing Labour MPs such as Corbyn. As such, it was a typical of universal human rights in the UN charter and related documents.22 example of the type of organization set up by parts of the British far left to campaign on a specific issue. However, the substantial public This was a response to the crimes of Nazi Germany (and its allies), opposition in the UK to the planned Iraq War briefly gave the group Stalin’s Soviet Union, and the deliberate targeting of the wider civilian wider support and, by early 2003, it was able to mobilize over 1 million population by all the powers involved in the war.23 At its core, it people to march in London and Glasgow. sought to keep states from declaring that rights were possessed

14 | HUDSON INSTITUTE only by particular sections of their population (whether this distinction was made on the basis of ethnicity, religion, social class, political FROM THE LABOUR LEFT allegiance, or gender). However, the concept was rejected by the One strand is drawn from the concepts of the Labour Party’s own left USSR (and in practice ignored by many states) on the grounds that from the 1970s and 1980s. Practically, this is often associated with the such a framing of rights was based on liberal capitalist norms and leading politician Tony Benn. However, it can be more validly seen as not on the realities of social class and society. the basic framework of a number of Labour politicians who were also part of the then-powerful Tribune Group. In international relations, this Even if only the closest adherents of the USSR in the UK fully accepted strand tended to support calls for nuclear disarmament (unilateral, if this interpretation, the view that rights were inalienable was not widely needed, by the UK). It called into question the motives and role of the accepted on the far left. A classic defense of the universalist tradition U.S. but also criticized the Soviet Union, especially for human rights in human rights was written by Leszek Kolakowski in response to the abuses and military adventurism. Of particular relevance, there were British communist historian E. P. Thompson. Kolakowski noted that Labour MPs who supported some multilateral institutions, like the UN, 26 Thompson always had an explanation for any crime by the Soviet but were often critical of bodies like NATO or the EEC, while some Union, seeing it as a product of excessive zeal or an unfortunate others were in favor of both. It should be noted that Corbyn personally overreaction to Western pressure. On the other hand, similar acts by had few links to this tradition at its height, having only been elected the U.S. and its allies were readily condemned, with no equivocation. to Parliament several years after Tony Benn failed to become deputy 27 Kolakowski wrote that leader of the Labour Party in 1981.

when I say “double standards” I do not mean This strand also had an economic model that tended to be suspicious of close engagement with wider trading blocs (again, such as the indulgence for the justifiable inexperience of the EEC). This had various intellectual strands behind it, including that “new society” in coping with new problems. I mean of the New Cambridge economics group,28 which argued that the the use, alternatively, of political or moral standards UK economy was so weak that only a degree of protectionism to similar situations and this I find unjustifiable. We could safeguard jobs and the standard of living. This analysis was must not be fervent moralists in some cases and subsequently reflected in the Alternative Economic Strategy jointly Real-politikers or philosophers of world history in developed in the early 1980s by Labour politicians and individuals others, depending on political circumstances.24 associated with the CPGB.29

Models of international relations are useful; they can provide a tool for understanding and action, but they can always be flawed FROM THE COMMUNIST in application.25 Both the traditional “realist” models and those based around liberal interventionism have been criticized for their PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN assumptions and their practical implications. However, simply saying The next strand relevant to understanding Corbyn’s worldview is the you reject these models is not enough; what matters is what you legacy from the CPGB itself. A number of former members are now intend to replace them with. This means we need to understand his close advisors, and all have a background in the CPGB factions Corbyn’s model and consider the sort of actions and approaches to that were most vocally pro-Soviet. This group tended to see the which it leads. world as a clash between the U.S. (which was always wrong) and the USSR (which they did sometimes criticize but saw as basically correct and, at worst, responding badly to U.S. pressure). They also INTELLECTUAL STRANDS opposed multilateral groups such as the EEC and NATO, which BEHIND CORBYN’S MODEL they believed were effectively fully aligned with the U.S. Clearly, their support for the USSR meant some affinity for states both inside and Corbyn’s model of international relations (and, critically, that of outside the Warsaw Pact that were broadly pro-Soviet, and for any his advisors) can be traced to three strands that were relatively anti-imperialist struggle, as long as the opponent was the U.S. or common on the British left from the 1960s to the 1980s. These have one of its allies. Many members of this group came to support the overlapping elements but also some key differences, and the strand Putin regime from the end of the 1990s, seeing it as some form of that dominates may have significant implications in its practical legacy regime of the Soviet state. policy application. The strands can be roughly grouped into the views of the Labour Party left, the CPGB, and the more fragmented By the late 1970s, the CPGB no longer had any practical influence “New Left.” over UK politics. Electorally it was completely marginalized, but it

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 15 retained a role in some British trade unions, and organizationally it The ready conflation of Zionism with imperialism and the resultant played a leading role in some of the wider groups that drew together blurring of the lines between criticism of the Israeli state and anti- the British left. The relative importance of these groups changed Semitism flows from this binary understanding. This has led to over time, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s two of them, the the anti-Semitism that is prevalent among a number of Corbyn’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Anti-Apartheid supporters, as, by their definition, anyone who is Jewish and does Movement (AAM), were supported by a substantial minority of the not fully reject Israel or Zionism falls outside the “community of the UK population and drew support from most UK political parties. good.”33 This binary belief is important and is shared by many around In each, the CPGB provided a significant degree of organizational Corbyn. In this view, a criticism of this or that act of the Israeli state support. Equally, and typically for many on the British left at the time, is not enough—any hint of tolerance for it is sufficient to invalidate Corbyn was heavily involved in both movements. any other views held by that individual or group. As we will discuss below, this has serious implications for the framing of international The CPGB itself was dissolved in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet policy and the retention of a commitment to universal human rights. Union. It produced several contending successor movements, and one, the CPB, secured ownership of the CPGB’s buildings and its Of less importance in terms of international relations is that some of newspaper, the Morning Star. CPB membership was made up of those around Corbyn have also been influenced by the arguments of those who regretted the fall of the USSR, often describing it is a Italian theorists such as Antonio Negri, whose non-Marxist strand of major tragedy. left-wing thinking draws heavily on the ideas of anarcho-syndicalism that were important in the early years of the twentieth century.34 As we discuss below, former CPGB members have come to have As such, it has more of an impact on the economic ideas of these disproportionate control over how Corbyn frames foreign affairs, Corbyn associates (in particular, the role of automation).35 In terms and he has become notably more supportive of the Putin regime’s of international relations, Negri’s views are mostly a indistinguishable actions as a result. A long-standing aim, set out in the CPGB’s British from the standard New Left approach. Road to Socialism,30 was to realign British foreign policy to one of “co-operation with socialist states and progressive forces in the capitalist world, and support for the national liberation movements. FROM EUROCOMMUNISM It should … withdraw from NATO.” More pertinently, the CPGB was committed to influencing the Labour Party to move to the left, so In the UK left in the 1970s and 1980s, there was little reflection of it adopted an “Alternative Economic and Political Strategy” that some wider trends in the thinking (and practice) of the European left, 36 would remove the UK from NATO and the EEC, creating the basis as befits an essentially Anglocentric, insular, political project. Given for a more profound shift to what was often described as “Actually their absence, there is no need to say much, but we can draw out one Existing Socialism” (the form of economic, social, and political order important issue. When the Italian (PCI) and Spanish (PCE) communist in the Warsaw Pact countries).31 parties were developing their ideas of what became known as Eurocommunism,37 this had little impact on the CPGB (apart from a small group of writers around the magazine Marxism Today) or on FROM THE “NEW LEFT” the Bennite left. This is problematic for two reasons. First, the PCI, in particular, returned to the concept of universal human rights (as A more disparate strand comes from the ideas and groups that opposed to the class-based approach that underpinned the Soviet emerged from the 1960s New Left.32 This incorporated individuals legal system) as they steadily dropped any remnants of orthodox who were members of various Trotskyist groups and those who Marxism-Leninism. The practical effect was that the PCI and the remained outside the formal structures of the British far left. The PCE supported the Helsinki Accords and the Czech dissident group legacy is complex, but it can be summarized as a greater or lesser Charter 77.38 This support actually was more important than it seems, degree of opposition to the Soviet Union (and to the CPGB), as it stressed the idea that all have rights, not just those deemed to along with a focus on the importance of anti-imperialism and anti- be suitable by a ruling regime (with this subject to change at any time). Americanism. If the CPGB saw the world as split into two camps, Second, the PCI (and even more the PCE) came to the view that the the Soviet bloc and the bloc dominated by the U.S., the New Left Soviet Union was a greater threat to stability and peace in Europe than tended to split the world into imperialist and anti-imperialist nations the U.S. or NATO. To them, the division of Europe into two competing (or movements). In this, one side was good (anti-imperialism) and blocs was a major issue that had to be resolved, in part by the Soviet the other bad (imperialism); the U.S. was the primary actor, and Union reducing its military threat to Western Europe.39 This position the other side was responding to its aggressions. Thus, any anti- varied over time, but it saw the PCI offer practical and moral support imperialist movement was seen as desirable and worthy of support to dissident movements such as Solidarity in Poland40 and condemn simply due to this designation. the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

16 | HUDSON INSTITUTE CORBYN’S POLITICAL ACTIONS ACROSS VARIOUS REGIONS

It is useful to explore the practical meaning of an intellectual model observers,41 the main driver of the ethnic cleansing was Serbian that prizes support for anti-imperialist states (or movements) above president’s, Slobodan Milošević, willingness to adopt a narrow all else and has no commitment to universal human rights. This Serb nationalist perspective,42 created the dynamics which led to section covers Corbyn’s approach to a range of international issues massacres in eastern Croatia and across Bosnia to buttress his rule and related themes, such as the UK’s retention of nuclear weapons. in Serbia and that of his allies in eastern Bosnia. However, to some It also discusses his differing approaches to nationalist movements of Corbyn’s supporters, the wars in Yugoslavia were an attempt to in Northern Ireland and Scotland. It ends with a discussion of his destroy a socialist state43 and, according to Katie Hudson, then approach to the European Union, as that seems to draw together chair of CND, “the truth is that Milošević was no hardcore Serb both his economic and political framing of how the UK should nationalist but a lifelong socialist, whose commitment was always to interact with the wider world. a multiracial, multi-ethnic Yugoslavia.”44

BOSNIA Corbyn expressed support45 in a parliamentary early day motion for Hudson’s book, Breaking the South Slav Dream.46 Hudson’s thesis Corbyn himself has said little directly about the wars in Croatia and was that Milošević was acting reasonably to keep Yugoslavia together Bosnia that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia after 1990. To most and was not guilty of any war crimes. Equally, the breakup of the

Britain's Labour Party's Executive Director of Strategy and Communications Seumas Milne (L) watches as Jeremy Corbyn gives a television interviewBritain's outside Labourthe Houses Party's of ParliamentExecutive Directoron September of Strategy 13, and Communications Seumas Milne (L) watches as Jeremy Corbyn gives a television 2016. (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images) interview outside the Houses of Parliament on September 13, 2016. (Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images) THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 17 Yugoslav state after 1990 was due to Western intervention, not the claim.55 Corbyn then signed an early day motion supporting Pilger’s actions of regional leaders. U.S. pressure for economic liberalization contention that there were no mass murders in Kosovo in the period in the decade after Marshal Tito’s death had encouraged Croatia up to 1999 and noted the ongoing pollution caused by NATO’s use and Slovenia to weaken their ties with the Yugoslav state. In turn, of depleted uranium.56 That Pilger’s views about the death toll have this led to their secession and to Milošević’s efforts to hold the old been comprehensively rebutted was of no apparent concern to state together. Corbyn.57

47 Corbyn has since met individuals such as Marcus Papadopoulos, In combination, Corbyn’s responses to the events in Bosnia and who claimed that “there was no siege of Sarajevo, there was no Kosovo point to several core themes in his foreign policy model. genocide at Srebrenica,” and who uses Islamophobic language to Fundamentally, he sees the Milošević regimeas some form of socialist, describe the Muslim communities in Bosnia. The denial of Serb war anti-imperialist state, and the various conflicts that arose after 1991 crimes was a major element of this discourse, and later, Seumas as products of Western attempts to undermine it. This is the view Milne, now Corbyn’s press secretary, asserted that the post-Milošević promoted by Katie Hudson, which rejects any argument that the root Serbian regime dug up bodies unrelated to the war in Bosnia to causes of the war include Milošević’s use of Serb nationalism to create provide the evidence needed for Milošević’s conviction at The Hague. 58 48 a basis for his own regime. In contrast, yes it is true there was a residual attachment to the ideals of a multi-ethnic united Yugoslavia, but it was found among those trying to sustain the idea of a multi- KOSOVO ethnic Bosnia and not among the Bosnian Serb nationalists engaged in ethnic cleansing. In neither Bosnia nor Kosovo has Corbyn shown Concerning the conflict in Kosovo, Corbyn was much more vocal. identification with the Muslim population, and his associates downplay This conflict had started as a low-level process (compared to or deny that Serb war crimes took place in Srebrenica or in Kosovo. events in Bosnia) of resistance to remaining in Yugoslavia on the part of the Muslim majority and of some ethnic cleansing by the This is not to say that criticizing either the wartime resistance by Serb authorities. By the late 1990s, it had escalated to something forces supporting both the Bosnian state and the KLA is invalid.59 approaching full-scale civil war. One problem was that the main Elements of both have been found guilty of war crimes since the resistance group to Serb control, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), conflict ended. Equally, it is valid to criticize Western diplomacy, was widely seen as also engaged in substantial criminality and this, especially the appeasement of Milošević in the early stages of the combined with the region’s relative isolation, limited outside support wars with Croatia and Bosnia.60 But this nuance is not the point of as intervention was geographically much harder than it had been in Corbyn’s critique, which views Serbia as a socialist state and believes Bosnia.49 Nonetheless, as part of the wider peacemaking process that its opponents, the West and the Muslim communities, became in the former Yugoslavia, a cease-fire was agreed upon in October the enemy and were wrong. In this view, once you are wrong, you 1998, and this was formalized in the 1999 Rambouillet Accords.50 The standard response on the far left was to denounce this as have no rights. another attack on the “socialist” state of Serbia designed to do little but provide a pretext for a subsequent NATO-led assault.51 Instead, Serb-led ethnic cleansing carried on (to be fair, there were plenty of SYRIA attacks on ethnic Serbs, too), and some 300,000 Kosovars were Corbyn’s opposition to the U.S.-UK invasion of Iraq is well displaced from their homes and about 2,000 killed before the NATO military intervention started.52 During the military operations, many documented and was shared by a substantial segment of the UK more Kosovars were displaced from their homes by Serb forces, and electorate at the time. The long-running Chilcot Inquiry definitively 13,517 were killed or went missing. refuted the Tony Blair government's arguments for the war and the conduct of postwar restructuring. Corbyn’s policy toward Syria Corbyn called for the NATO intervention to be stopped because of draws heavily from this experience: He was right then, so he must be the risk of civilian casualties, because it violated state sovereignty, right now. But there is a subtle twist to his position. In the run-up to and because it was not endorsed by the UN Security Council.53 the Iraq War there were very few in the UK who actually supported Subsequently, left wing journalist John Pilger published an article Saddam Hussein; the debate was on the wisdom of the George W. claiming that the death toll was just 2,788, an assertion he has Bush administration's chosen course of action, which was backed maintained since then, arguing that this includes those killed by NATO by the UK. On Syria, it is less that Corbyn is opposed to Western bombs and by the KLA. 54 Russia Today (RT), in effect the Kremlin’s actions and more that he is supportive of the Assad regime and its main international propaganda channel, continues to repeat this backers in Russia and Iran.

18 | HUDSON INSTITUTE This has meant demonizing the Syrian opposition as stooges of rebels, insist the Syrian army was responsible. the U.S., allies to the Saudis, and jihadis. His close policy advisor, The Damascus government and its international Seumas Milne, managed to extend this to an argument that the backers, Russia and Iran, blame the rebels.”66 United States was responsible for ISIS: “A year into the Syrian rebellion, the US and its allies weren’t only supporting and arming The reality, of course, is that the Assad regime had been using an opposition they knew to be dominated by extreme sectarian chemical weapons before the August attacks and continued to do groups; they were prepared to countenance the creation of some so afterward. 67 sort of ‘Islamic state’ — despite the ‘grave danger’ to Iraq’s unity— as a Sunni buffer to weaken Syria.”61 In a similar manner, Corbyn Corbyn’s approach to Syria repeats some of the themes noted earlier. intervened in a debate in May 2013 on the EU arms embargo on Once a regime is deemed anti-imperialist, its victims retain no rights Syria to warn against “supplying arms to people [the Syrian rebels] to dissent or resist. The reality—of a messy, nasty civil war that was we do not know” and made a link to “the way the USA raced to spawned from a peaceful revolt against the Assad regime but saw supply … arms to [the] opposition in Afghanistan in 1979, which war crimes by every faction and became an international arena for gave birth to the Taliban and, ultimately, al-Qaeda.” the wider Iranian-Saudi conflict—is missing.68 Equally, the almost 6 million refugees who have fled the country,69 and the further 6 million Since then, senior members of the StWC have followed the internally displaced,70 go missing from Corbyn’s narrative. Instead, arguments of people like notionally pro-Palestinian polemicist, Max we are given a narrative of imperialism and anti-imperialism, one that Blumenthal and linked the Syrian White Helmets to al-Qaeda or ISIS glosses over the role played by Russia and Iran, with the Russian rather than treating them as an unofficial humanitarian group doing presence deemed acceptable as long as it is for peacekeeping its best to offset the impact of regime (and Russian) bombing.62 purposes.71 After an attack by Russian planes on a UN aid convoy in The White Helmets openly acknowledge they have received U.S. September 2016, Corbyn could not actually bring himself to blame funding for their work and, predictably, that is enough for them to the Russians for the attack directly, instead presenting it as some be described by the far left as a tool of U.S. imperialism laying the awful, random accident.72 groundwork for a U.S. invasion.63 The Russian state-sponsored news agency Sputnik has since described them as “Soros- As noted above, in the context of Syria, StWC ceased to claim that 64 sponsored.” But acceptance of U.S. funding was not unusual for its concern was the impact of wars on other countries and, in the many humanitarian groups, at least before the Trump presidency; context of Syria, became apologists for the Assad regime. In its view, even the Palestinian Red Crescent has taken such support and used Western intervention in Syria was not questionable because it was ill it to treat Palestinians wounded in Israeli actions in the West Bank thought out or badly implemented but because it was an attack on and Gaza Strip. a regime the StWC supported. Attempts by Syrian refugees living in the UK to challenge this narrative or alignment have been silenced After the Assad regime used chemical weapons on a suburb of by the StWC and its supporters.73 Damascus in 2013, Corbyn appeared on the Russian state TV channel RT to express openness to the theory that the Syrian opposition had actually dropped the chemical weapons.65 At the IRAN AND SAUDI ARABIA same time, his now-key advisor Seumas Milne was writing that The binary, non-reflective model can also be seen in Corbyn’s response the trigger for the buildup to a new intervention — to the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, two powers whose what appears to have been a chemical weapons relationship has formed the major dynamic in the Middle East since 74 attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta — 1979. Western policy has tended to share the Saudi antagonism toward Iran, going as far as to offer fairly open support to Iraqi leader certainly has the hallmarks of a horrific atrocity. Saddam Hussein during his long war with Iran from 1980 to 1988.75 Hundreds, mostly civilians, are reported killed and Equally, there has been a willingness among Western leaders to many more wounded, their suffering caught on overlook domestic repression in Saudi Arabia while condemning the stomach-churning videos. brutality of the Iranian regime. Furthermore, it is true that both Western States, and bodies such as the IMF, have overemphasized the recent But so far no reliable evidence whatever has been reform agenda of the Saudis while enforcing sanctions against Iran produced to confirm even what chemical might that have caused domestic reforms there to falter. have been used, let alone who delivered it. The western powers and their allies, including the Syrian This strongly suggests that a human rights–based foreign policy by a

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 19 Western power should aim for some degree of equivalence, holding both Iran and Saudi Arabia responsible for their actions domestically RUSSIA and internationally, offering support for democratic reform movements in both, and equally accepting that both regimes do have their own One common criticism of Corbyn is that he rarely changes his mind dynamics, concerns, and worldview. and that his entire intellectual framework remains stuck in the 1970s. However, there is evidence that he has changed his views toward This is not what Corbyn does. Yes, he has been very critical of Saudi Putin’s Russia. In the late 1990s, he signed a number of early day motions condemning Putin’s war in Chechnya and the resulting Arabia, but this is not matched by a similarly critical approach to human rights abuses, but over time this has shifted.81 Now, with Syria Iran, for which he has expressed support.76 In effect, for Corbyn, Iran and with the use of chemical weapons in the UK against the Skripals, has joined Russia and Venezuela as a key state resisting Western he is happy to match the rhetoric of RT. In the latter case, he was imperialism and has become worthy of support regardless of its prepared to call into doubt Russia’s involvement in the poisoning, and actions. The Scottish writer Sam Hamad has suggested that: Milne told the UK press:

Corbyn could easily be described as a lobbyist I think obviously the government has access to for the Iranian regime. In the same sleazy manner information and intelligence on this matter which as the Tory politicians, so hated by Corbyn and his others don’t; however, also there’s a history in relation supporters, who claim to support “human rights” in to WMD and intelligence which is problematic to put Saudi Arabia before selling them weapons and the it mildly. … So I think the right approach is to seek the means to maintain their domestic tyranny, Corbyn has evidence; to follow international treaties, particularly strongly advocated that such relations be transferred in relation to prohibited chemical weapons, because from Saudi’s brutal theocracy to that of the Iranian this was a chemical weapons attack, carried out on 77 regime. British soil. There are procedures that need to be followed in relation to that.82 Hamad’s 2016 article was written several years after the Iranian regime had crushed internal dissent (the Green Revolution), and Critically, Milne quite deliberately linked the failures of British intelligence its own Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and proxy militias were in the run up to the invasion of Iraq (where their findings had been used 78 involved in sectarian violence in Iraq and Syria. Corbyn’s criticism to support claims that Hussain had weapons of mass destruction) to of the Saudis may represent a needed balance against the foreign the verity of their findings after the attack in Salisbury. policy of Conservative and Labour governments, but his interest in human rights does not extend to the victims of the Iranian regime or Even after the OPCW had indicated that the likely source of the nerve 79 its proxy states. Thus, as above, the crimes of a state he supports agents used was Russia, Milne and others continued to demand go unchallenged, certainly downplayed, while the crimes of a state further proof while supporting the arguments advanced by RT and he opposes are clearly labelled as such. Again, we come back to the other pro-Kremlin news outlets. At the same time, Corbyn demanded same argument: He is not making a case for a different approach to that any intelligence that implicated Russia be shared with them. In his UK foreign policy—unlike, say, Robin Cook—but is simply replacing view, since the Western intelligence agencies had been wrong about near-unconditional support for one authoritarian regime that engages Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction, they must be in domestic and international repression with support for another.80 wrong now. However, even if the intelligence information had been partly redacted, providing it to Corbyn would have made it easy for the This repeats the contradiction noted by Leszek Kolakowski in the mid- Russian security forces to understand the processes used to gather 1970s. Fundamentally, one either accepts the logic of universal human the information and the likely sources. rights or replaces it with a framework of rights only for those who meet particular criteria. In the first framing, one cannot selectively apply As leader of the opposition, he could make such demands but not principles of opposition to oppression in one area while supporting or do much more. He was, no doubt, briefed on confidential terms as ignoring it in another. But this is what Corbyn has done: While he wants to what the UK government knew, but the government could have a British government to end the oppression of Palestinians and end presented this information in a manner that would have been hard Saudi Arabia’s vicious war in Yemen, he has also been one of the most to pass on (and of limited use if it was). If he were prime minister, consistent voices in advocating that nothing be done to aid Syrians then in a similar situation, he would determine what should happen, fighting for democracy (and their lives) against Assad and in backing and the risk is that such intelligence would indeed be shared with the Iran’s domestic and international policy. Russians. This calls into serious question the extent to which routine

20 | HUDSON INSTITUTE intelligence-sharing with the UK could be sustained during a Corbyn- actions against the other independent republics that emerged from led government. the fall of the Soviet Union. What is similar, though, is the lack of concern for the human rights of those who are deemed to be on the This shift toward Russia is important. As noted earlier, a key group wrong side. Members of the Muslim Tatar ethnic community in Crimea around Corbyn has a background in the hard-line, pro-Soviet factions reported that their citizenship had been revoked and their rights denied of the old CPGB. One of these, Seumas Milne, has written extensively— shortly after the Russian takeover, but this has not been challenged by and invariably supportively—about Putin’s actions in Crimea, Georgia, Corbyn or his advisors. Ukraine, and Syria. In isolation, some of his claims may have some validity, but taken together they present a very consistent view, and one that Corbyn has embraced. For example, about the annexation VENEZUELA of Crimea, Milne wrote that Russia’s actions were “clearly defensive”83 The success, or otherwise, of Venezuela’s social reforms during the and that “western aggression and lawless killing is on another scale Hugo Chávez era is probably one of the most contentious issues entirely from anything Russia appears to have contemplated, let alone in both international politics and the assessment of social policy. To carried out — removing any credible basis for the US and its allies to the George W. Bush presidency (and its supporters), Chávez was rail against Russian transgressions.”84 In effect, Putin was right, and clearly wrong; the U.S. government made various attempts to end even if he was not, then at least he is not as bad as the Western his presidency, seeing his regime not just as a close ally of Cuba, but leaders. also an attempt at a conventional Marxist-Leninist dictatorship.88 On the other hand, the regime set itself the goal of gaining control over Milne framed the earlier attack on Georgia as a legitimate response oil revenues (which had previously been taken out of the country and to U.S. expansion: “By any sensible reckoning, this is not a story of held by a small group of families) to fund a cluster of policies designed Russian aggression, but of US imperial expansion and ever tighter to alleviate poverty.89 Drawing a balanced view of the outcomes of encirclement of Russia by a potentially hostile power. That a stronger Chávez’s presidency is not easy, as the economy remained oil- Russia has now used the South Ossetian imbroglio to put a check dependent, and there was high inflation.90 However, education was 85 on that expansion should hardly come as a surprise.” By 2015, he expanded,91 and the poverty rates dropped from 61 percent of the wrote about the war in eastern Ukraine: population in 1997 to 33 percent in 2007.92

Russia has now challenged that, and the Whether or not Chávez was redefining socialism away from the old consequences have been played out in Ukraine Soviet model is debatable, but his failure to reform the economy in for the past year: starting with the western-backed time undermined his other reforms when the price of oil started to ousting of the elected government, through the collapse after 2010. Nonetheless, aspects of his approach attracted installation of a Ukrainian nationalist regime, the widespread support—and an interest in how to apply them elsewhere. Russian takeover of Crimea and Moscow-backed Not surprisingly, his regime also attracted the support of those from the New Left tradition, since Chávez presented himself as anti- uprising in the Donbass. On the ground, it has imperialist and as someone who rejects the Washington Consensus meant thousands of dead, hundreds of thousands of (that the only acceptable route for a developing economy was to refugees, indiscriminate shelling of civilian areas and open itself up to international competition and privatize key services) the rise of Ukrainian fascist militias.86 on development policies.93 His successor, Nicolás Maduro, lacks his deftness at balancing these issues, and Venezuela’s state revenues, Again NATO (and/or the EU) is held to be clearly to blame, as “NATO’s like those of other oil-based economies, have declined substantially. eastward expansion was halted by the Georgian war of 2008 and The result has been a shift to open authoritarianism, alliances with Yanukovych’s later election on a platform of non-alignment,” he Russia and Iran, and an economic crisis that has seen over 3 million wrote. “But any doubt that the EU’s effort to woo Ukraine is closely Venezuelans flee the country since 2014 and many more displaced connected with western military strategy was dispelled today by from their homes.94 NATO’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who declared that the abortive pact with Ukraine would have been ‘a major boost to Chávez also consistently managed to obtain democratic mandates Euro-Atlantic security.’”87 for his actions, whether by elections or referendums. While there have been doubts about the validity of some of these results, on balance he In a way, this is different from Corbyn’s original mindset of imperialism clearly had substantial domestic support and was prepared to abide by against anti-imperialism. As with Assad’s Syria, this has morphed into the outcomes. In contrast, Maduro first arrested the main opposition open support for a state, and one that has engaged in aggressive leaders in 2013 and then set up a “Constituent Assembly” in 2017 to

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 21 bypass parliament after he had suffered an electoral defeat.95 He then he opposed the mid-1980s agreements between the British and called a presidential election that was boycotted by the opposition Irish governments, but enthusiastically accepted the Good Friday due to fears of fraud and ongoing state-sponsored violence. The Agreement (which was negotiated with close attention to the wishes result was rejected by almost every other Latin American government, of Irish republicans, among others).100 and Maduro has since called for fresh elections to his Constituent Assembly (currently only including members of the ruling party) in an In contrast, his approach to Scottish independence can be attempt to legitimize his victory and further sideline parliament. 96 characterized as tone deaf. He has made no effort to engage with the Scottish National Party (SNP) and seems unaware of why that By any reasonable definition, this is a coup and a destruction of party holds the views it does. This cannot be simply because the conventional democracy, and it has been challenged as such by SNP is an electoral competitor to the Labour Party, as Sinn Féin most external powers, though China, Russia, and Iran have stood has also taken seats off the SDLP and thus reduced the wider non- with Maduro. Corbyn (and his supporters97) have ignored this assault Conservative bloc in the House of Commons (Sinn Féin does not on democracy and the domestic political violence by the regime, sit in the UK Parliament, as it believes the 1922 partition of Ireland continuing to support it on the grounds that Venezuela is an anti- was illegal). On the peace processes in Northern Ireland, he has imperialist state.98 As with the Balkans and Syria, Corbyn believes simply followed the shifting line adopted by Sinn Féin. There is now that if you are being oppressed by a regime he supports, then you some evidence that his opposition to EU membership has caused have no rights and are most likely a tool of U.S. imperialism. That problems with Sinn Féin, as it wishes the UK to retain membership the Trump presidency has challenged Maduro seems to be sufficient in the EU and opposes anything that threatens the current all-Ireland reason to dismiss all the other states (and international bodies, arrangements.101 such as the EU) that have not recognized the results of the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election. One explanation is that when Corbyn formed his political views, the issue of Scottish independence had little interest outside Scotland, while the IRA’s bombing campaigns made the issue of Northern SCOTLAND & NORTHERN Ireland very much relevant. More generally, the wider UK far left all IRELAND supported some form or other of Irish republicanism, and it is likely he simply absorbed this. At the same time, most of the organized Corbyn’s approach to international relations can also be readily explored UK left was opposed to Scottish independence on the grounds it in his different responses to Irish and Scottish nationalism and their calls would fragment the British working class. Thus, Corbyn’s current for either unity within Ireland or independence from the remainder of the worldview again reflects the norms of the 1970s British left, and UK. The issue here is not whether either goal is correct, but how Corbyn he has a closer understanding of the dynamics of a political party has responded. with past involvement in terrorism than one with a long-standing commitment to democratic change. In the context of Northern Ireland, he has a long history of sympathy for Irish republicanism, expressed politically by Sinn Féin, but also through the terrorism of the IRA and its various spinoffs. Corbyn has NUCLEAR WEAPONS repeatedly argued that his contacts with hard-line Irish republicans were necessary, as to end a war one must talk to the other side. What Corbyn has been a lifelong member of CND, and several of his is clear is that he made no effort to contact any of the loyalist groups officials were previously senior members. Thus, one would expect that also were making a slow move from paramilitarism to democratic that his first manifesto for a general election would at least challenge politics. In general, his record suggests that he was supportive of renewal of the UK’s nuclear missile deterrent, known as the Trident, Sinn Féin’s policies but had no direct contact with the IRA—as such even if it did not call for immediate abolition of the UK’s nuclear (but this is not a clear distinction given the cross-over of individuals weapons. Instead, the manifesto actually, in contrast to the position between the two organizations).99 However, there is equally no of the SNP, supported renewal of the Trident. The SNP’s views are record of close involvement with the democratic nationalist party in relevant here, in part because Britain’s submarines are based in this era, the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which sent Scotland, and in part because the 2017 general election included a MPs to Westminster and generally supported the UK Labour Party. contest between the SNP and Labour for votes in Scotland. In effect, he has been sympathetic toward Irish republicanism and seems well aware of the internal debates it has had about ending its As with Russia, where Corbyn has changed his mind, one can trace terrorist campaign, but he has simply reflected the shifting position the reason to his close associates. In this case, Len McCluskey, of Sinn Féin toward the peace processes in Northern Ireland. Thus, leader of the Unite union—Corbyn’s principal financial backer—is

22 | HUDSON INSTITUTE pro-Trident, as the renewal would benefit Unite members by creating Policy, which tended to support converting the economic isolation some jobs.102 In this respect, the issue is not whether unilateral proposed by the New Cambridge Group into a permanent state for nuclear disarmament or shifting defense spending from the Trident the economy.108 In effect, the only way to ensure the economy could to conventional weapons is a good idea; it is how the change came work for most people was by having a degree of separation from the about. A lifetime’s commitment was overturned due to the views of a world economy. Since even at the time, this was the opposite of the powerful member of Corbyn’s inner circle. And, at least in Scotland, EEC’s approach, this inevitably meant calling for the UK to withdraw the policy probably cost him votes, as the SNP was able to stress from membership. that it was consistent in arguing for the Trident’s removal. The other historical strand to Labour Euroscepticism was political. Some of this was a framing, shared with the Conservative right, MULTINATIONAL about loss of “sovereignty” and having to accept decisions made INSTITUTIONS: THE outside the UK, but it went deeper. In effect, in their view, the EEC/ EU is, and has been, a capitalist institution that acts as one of EUROPEAN UNION AND NATO the agents of Western imperialism. In addition, there is a (flawed) Corbyn has been a long-standing critic of the EEC/EU, forming belief that EU membership is incompatible with a broadly social- part of a very small group of Labour MPs who have found common democratic domestic economic policy. cause with the larger group of British Conservatives who have been obsessed with this issue for many years.103 In reality, he goes beyond Thus, whether Corbyn personally voted Leave or Remain in the the Eurosceptic tradition in British politics; in a speech in 2010, he Brexit referendum of 2016 is irrelevant; what matters is that his view called for the EU to be defeated.104 Here, the EU was grouped with of both international politics and international economics means he bankers and the IMF as a threat to living standards, and he declared can see no reason why the UK should remain a member of the EU.109 that “we will not be silenced by these people. We will win through. While in the 1970s, there were those who saw a shift to some form We will defeat them, and we will win that decency that we want in of trade barriers as a sensible short-term response to deep-seated this world.” This moves Corbyn’s attitude from traditional British problems, that is not Corbyn’s understanding: He actually wants Euroscepticism to the type of view found more commonly on the a degree of permanent economic isolation from the wider world extreme right of British politics. economy.

As discussed above, this opposition to the EU (and in its earlier forms, the EC Fundamental opposition to NATO has also been a consistent strand and the EEC) is based on both economics and politics. in Corbyn’s approach. In part this simply reflects the traditional Soviet description of NATO as a tool of imperialism. More recently, By the late 1970s, there was sustained concern over the state of the as discussed in connection with Russia, a typical argument of those UK economy. Underinvestment meant it was not competitive globally around Corbyn is that NATO is responsible for the various wars in and, in particular, imports far outstripped exports.105 This weakness Georgia, Crimea, and Ukraine. This is said to be due to its expansion, led to a number of divergent proposals. To the right, the solution which first entailed incorporating the former Warsaw Pact states was to reduce workers’ rights, end the influence of trade unions, (such as Poland), and subsequently involved offering cooperation and diminish the role of the state.106 To some on the left, the solution agreements with former constituent parts of the USSR. Underlying was partially to remove the UK economy from the international trade this idea is a view that Russia (as the legal successor to the USSR) networks while it rebalanced itself and dealt with these structural has a sphere of interest that still includes the former Soviet republics issues. Those in the latter camp, organized as the New Cambridge and members of the Warsaw Pact.110 In turn, this approach opposes Economics group, took a mostly left-Keynesian view of the economy these states’ developing their own foreign policy and trading links.111. and saw protectionism as a temporary move to be implemented Of note, not only are these arguments stock in trade for those around while major reforms were enacted.107 Once the Thatcher government Corbyn, but they also form part of the views of the newly emboldened started to carry out its economic policies, some on the left (especially nationalist right in Europe and are staples for RT and other pro-Kremlin the Tribune Group and the CPGB) created an Alternative Economic news agencies. 112

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 23 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE U.S.

As stressed in this paper, Corbyn’s model of international relations to Putin’s aggressive acts. Furthermore, there are clear security is not one of international cooperation, universal human rights, and implications. A number of Corbyn’s close officials are former CPGB cooperation on issues such as climate change or the growing global members who are quite open about their nostalgia for the USSR refugee crises. He is suspicious of existing multilateral institutions, and make clear their belief that the Putin regime is some form of he has no commitment to the human rights of those oppressed successor to the Soviet Union. There can be no guarantee that by regimes he supports, and his ability to broker international intelligence shared with a Corbyn government will not simply be cooperation on anything is doubtful. transferred to Russia.

If Corbyn becomes prime minister, the U.S. will be faced with a This was particularly clear in the immediate aftermath of the Skripals’ former ally that sees Iran, Russia, and Venezuela as close allies and poisoning with the nerve agent Novichok by Russian security forces. is supportive of the Assad regime in Syria. This goes well beyond Corbyn called for all the intelligence to be shared with Russia, seeking to correct the problems that have been caused by too-close despite the strong risk of revealing sources and methods, even if the ties with the Saudis, Israel, or right-wing governments in regions information was partly redacted. In addition, because of the misuse such as Latin America. of intelligence to support the attack on Iraq, he clearly placed more trust in the assertions of the Russians than in those of Western There is a core theme to this reframing of the UK’s foreign policy. It is intelligence agencies even, presumably, after he had been briefed supportive of the Putin regime, and thus a Corbyn-led government confidentially on what the UK government knew. If he was prime is likely, at the very least, not to support wider efforts to respond minister, he could choose to share such information.

Labour politicians Jeremy Corbyn and Anthony Wedgwood Benn lend their support to a demonstration in Grosvenor Square, London, advocating U.S. withdrawal from El Salvador, 20th January 1990. (Steve Eason/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) 24 | HUDSON INSTITUTE RELATIONS WITH THE However, the main change will be at the level of policy formulation and how the UK interacts with the US and its traditional allies. A Corbyn-led REPUBLICAN AND government would be, at the very least, far more understanding of the DEMOCRATIC PARTIES demands of Putin and the Kremlin regime. Thus, in any instance where there was a need for speedy decision-making, or a robust defense of If Corbyn becomes prime minister and President Trump is still in one of NATO’s eastern members, this would not be forthcoming. As power, the two will likely disagree fundamentally about a transfer noted previously, even when Corbyn and his advisors have criticized of UK support from Saudi Arabia and Israel to Iran and about Russian actions, this always comes with a caveat, the presentation other issues, such as Venezuela. However, there are points of of a context that explains what happened. No such subtlety is used agreement—perhaps surprising, given their notionally separate when critiquing Western actions or responses. political backgrounds. Both are suspicious of multilateral bodies, in particular the European Union, and both are sympathetic to Putin’s Russia. It is unlikely these shared elements will offset their major SECURITY ideological differences, but it may mean the UK will play a disruptive role in multilateral organizations similar to that adopted by the Trump As noted in the section on Russia, there would be serious security administration, even if there is little practical cooperation. implications to dealing with a Corbyn-led government In response to the poisoning of the Skripals, his initial demand was to share the A Democratic administration may also find it hard to work closely intelligence reports with the Russians, as they had the right, in his with Corbyn. It might be more accepting of a policy of distancing view, to verify the claims. This is troubling on two levels. First, again, the UK from the Saudis (possibly even from Israel, though this would there is the automatic distrust of the West and the willingness to find cut across a consistent strand in U.S. foreign policy). However, it is a legitimate explanation for Russian actions. Second, such material, unlikely that any shift to support Iran will be welcomed. Equally, it even if redacted, would have allowed the Russians to work out both is unlikely that a Democratic president will share President Trump’s the sources and the analytic methods used to gather the material. ambiguity toward Putin’s regime, making this a potentially major breach in traditional UK-U.S. cooperation. In the circumstances, he could do nothing but demand this transfer of material. At worst, he (or his advisors) could have passed on the The extent to which these issues become major disputes or minor summary material they were given. As prime minister, he would have disagreements will probably depend on how far a new Democratic far more freedom in this regard. The U.S. intelligence agencies would president personally disagrees with the policies followed by the have to operate on the basis that any material provided to a Corbyn Clinton and Obama administrations. Presumably someone who government could be passed to the Russians (or Iranians). This is was part of those administrations, and shares their wider worldview, a radical departure from the practice that has been maintained for will find it hard to work with Corbyn. Someone who has some the last sixty years, regardless of the notional political differences reservations about the foreign policy choices in those years might between the UK and U.S. administrations. find it easier to work with him at a policy level, but concerns over the sharing of confidential information will remain. ISRAEL AND ANTI-SEMITISM NATO A final major shift will be in the UK’s actions toward Israel. In the main the British, reflecting wider EU foreign policy, have been less pro- As noted, Corbyn comes from that section of the British left where Israeli than is the norm in U.S. politics. The extent of this divergence opposition to NATO membership is common. It is unlikely that a has varied over different UK administrations, but acceptance of Corbyn-led government would actually withdraw from NATO, at least Israel’s right to exist, even if linked to strong reservations about its in the first five years after an election before a new round of voting, actual policies, has not even been a matter of debate. but it could change how the UK interacts with the organization. Such a government would be unlikely to allocate additional funding As noted, Corbyn will not just alter this policy bias, but there are to conventional defense spending, although some in the Labour deeper concerns. To many around him, Israel is the key imperialist Party would be prepared to use resources that would be freed up state, and anti-Semitism has become common among his if the Trident is not renewed. In international cooperation, a Corbyn supporters. In domestic political terms, there is now substantial government will limit the availability of British forces, perhaps to evidence of just how widespread this has become with concerns instances where there is a clear humanitarian need. about growing antisemitism widespread in the UK’s Jewish

THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 25 community. In international terms, it means that any revision of UK policy toward the Middle East will not just be a reversion to a more skeptical position about Israeli policies, but a change to fundamental opposition to the state of Israel.

When this is linked to a shift in support from Saudi Arabia to Iran, the result for the U.S. will be a traditional ally whose foreign policy now fundamentally diverges.

26 | HUDSON INSTITUTE SUMMARY

The basic framework of Corbyn’s model of international relations international actions before and since. The underlying framework is fairly clear. States and/or movements that contest the power of is that such intervention is a priori bad, and there is no distinction “imperialism” are worthy of support. Thus, a movement such as drawn between disastrous interventions such as Iraq and those that Hamas is not to be criticized or treated as a terrorist organization, as did stop something far worse from happening, such as Kosovo or it is also “an organization that is dedicated toward the good of the Sierra Leone.114 Such a model allows no nuance: The actions and Palestinian people and bringing about long-term peace and social institutions of the “West” are wrong, but no such outright barrier is justice and political justice in the whole region,” as Corbyn said in offered to aggression by the Putin regime: Its actions in Crimea or 2009.113 His policy choice is to support Hamas, not Fatah, as in Ukraine need to be carefully studied and caveats offered to avoid Northern Ireland he identifies with Sinn Féin but not the SDLP. outright condemnation so, as with the old CPGB’s response to Soviet actions, there is some criticism, but also a pedantic use of This model of international relations, in the form of StWC, opposed context to justify the actions. If this fails to be sufficient, then the old not only the U.S.-UK intervention in Iraq, but also a range of claim that the ‘West’ was worse can be used.

Memorabilia supporting British Labour Party leadership contender Jeremy Corbyn is offered for sale ahead of his arrival at the Town Hall on August 18, 2015 in Middlesbrough, England. (Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) THE PROSPECTIVE FOREIGN POLICY OF A CORBYN GOVERNMENT | 27 More worryingly, this mindset fails to make a distinction between a with Iran. Whether Iran or Saudi Arabia is actually worse is a moot favored state and its inhabitants. If people under a regime deemed point, but the UK will not challenge both— instead, it will simply to be anti-imperialist revolt, they are quickly dismissed as pawns switch partners. In Latin America, again, it is debatable whether the of imperialists (or, as discussed above, as terrorists) and readily Maduro regime is worse than some of the right-wing authoritarian demonized.115 Equally, Corbyn's criticism about the intervention states that the U.S. and its allies have propped up over the years. in Libya is not that it was mishandled, and that the post-conflict This really doesn’t matter; it is failing its own people. Under Corbyn, situation predictably slipped out of control, but that it was, in his the UK will take a position where the injustices inflicted by Maduro words, “regime change”—and this is the core of the complaint.116 on the Venezuelan people will not be its concern. This is realpolitik, If a regime can in some way be considered progressive or anti- admittedly with a different list of favored states than at the moment, 117 imperialist, then it should be supported, regardless of what it does but it is every bit as uninterested in the abuses committed by British to its own people. allies as the current UK government. The British people will no doubt be assured of the benefits of quiet diplomacy in influencing Iranian As discussed above, this is a consistent theme. Milošević’s Serbia policy, in the same way that such tactics are currently held to affect was deemed a socialist state struggling to hold together the the behavior of Saudi Arabia. popularly supported concept of Yugoslavia. Thus, first the wars in Croatia and Bosnia and later the conflict in Kosovo were framed In addition, Corbyn’s distaste for established international bodies does as foreign-inspired revolts against a just state. More recently, the not bode well for the UK’s ability to cooperate on key international Syrian opposition to the Assad regime is dismissed and their issues. That many of these bodies need reform and reflect vested suffering ignored, since the regime is seen as anti-imperialist. The interests is true, but they exist and can be used. Equally, they often same pattern is developing in Corbyn’s response to the civil unrest reflect the dominant norms of their constituent parts. Many left- in Venezuela. wing supporters of Brexit point to how the EU handled Greece by imposing economic reforms and massive cuts in social spending as Thus, Corbyn relies on his specific opposition to the Iraq War and a reason to leave the EU. This does reflect the economic orthodoxy his long support for some anti-imperialist movements to claim his of the current EU. However, electorally the EU (both as a parliament approach to international relations is far more decent than that and in terms of its member states’ politics) is currently dominated by inspired by the traditional models. In practice, it results at best in a the center-right. In the past, the center-left has dominated, leading to different set of acceptable and unacceptable regimes, and in little or very different policies, but a Corbyn-led UK government will do little no sympathy for those unlucky enough to be the victims of a regime viewed as acceptable. As noted above, none of the leftist strands or nothing to restore that situation. that inform Corbyn’s model of foreign policy had a concept of universal human rights—and this shows in their practical application. Corbyn’s attitude toward the EU reflects his views on both international politics and economics. In terms of international Working from these findings, we can start to make some judgments politics, he sees the EU as just another tool by which imperialism as to the likely foreign policy preferences of a Corbyn-led government. can enforce its desires. In terms of economics, it is the antithesis of the protectionist, managed trade model that was the core of Bennite However, first it is useful to acknowledge that many who support him economics in the late 1970s and early 1980s. . Thus, his strong have expectations that this will be a focus on human rights, climate preference for the UK to leave the EU is not just a feeling that the change, and international cooperation over the refugee crisis. As with 2016 referendum should be respected—it happens to fit both his elements of his domestic policy (where an end to economic austerity political and economic models of international relations. He has no is widely supported), many will vote for a Labour government in the interest in retaining EU membership, regardless of all the warnings hope that it will rebalance the UK’s foreign policy away from too- about the economic consequences. close links to U.S. interests—a dogmatic position that can be as misleading as the automatic anti-Americanism of much of the far So the UK’s foreign policy under Corbyn will be different: more left—reduce UK support for regimes such as Saudi Arabia, and suspicious of international coordination, more suspicious of challenge Israel’s policies in the Middle East. established international structures, and with a new list of regimes that the UK will seek as likely allies. And it will be much the same. The The reality is they will largely be disappointed. If we take just UK will have as little interest in the human rights abuses of Russia or one issue, yes, a Corbyn-led government will be more willing to Iran as it currently has in those committed by Saudi Arabia. This will challenge Saudi Arabia over its domestic and international human be framed as progressive but, in reality, it is a turn toward insularity— rights abuses, but this will come at the cost of a closer relationship at a time when the world needs global solutions.

28 | HUDSON INSTITUTE At this stage, it is not clear how much this rhetoric will influence be pro-EU and mostly supportive of the current international order. practical actions. Corbyn’s views are a minority in the parliamentary Lacking a majority of his own MPs and dependent on the votes of Labour Party and, given the fragmented nature of British politics, it parties such as the Liberal Democrats or the Scottish and Welsh is most likely he will be in charge of a government lacking an overall nationalists, Corbyn may find his scope to reshape British foreign majority or will be in a formal coalition with smaller parties. In either policy limited. However, while there may be barriers to what he can case, his partners are unlikely to support some of his policies, not do in practice, his stated views and opinions will suddenly carry far least because the other non-conservative parties in the UK tend to more weight outside the UK than they do at the moment.

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