Many state visits are empty, symbolic acts that have little to no policy content or lasting significance. But every now and then, such a visit changes the shape of international relations. Could French President Emmanuel Macron’s recently concluded trip to London be one of them?
Macron’s recent three-day trip, the first state visit to the United Kingdom by a European Union head of state since Brexit in 2020, had plenty of pomp and pageantry. But it also focused on policy and politics, which reflects a profound shift in the U.K.’s circumstances since leaving the EU.
During the upheaval of the Brexit psychodrama, there was little interest in constructive exchange, and the U.K.’s relationship with Europe remained defined by its lurching departure from the bloc. But nearly a decade on, Donald Trump is back in the White House and has launched a trade war on the world. Russian President Vladimir Putin has shredded the European security order. And Chinese President Xi Jinping has resorted to threats of economic coercion — a striking reversal from the “golden era” of U.K.-China relations proclaimed in 2015.
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