American foreign policy

There was a report on the Today programme this morning about American foreign policy. Apparently it has become so inscrutable that no-one really knows what is going on. The French foreign minister has been openly critical of this dysfunction. The fact that interpreting American foreign policy seems to be developing into a science similar to kremlinology is mildly interesting in itself, but has an importance in the United Kingdom given the reliance the Foreign Office places on trans-Atlantic links. Which leads to the question: what are we trying to achieve in the world, other than follow the lead of others? Robin Cook's "ethical foreign policy" proved to be an exercise in hypocrisy, even before he resigned. Blindly following NATO and the Americans has led to two unwinnable wars (and a British defeat in Iraq, although no-one seems to be acknowledging this). Participating in a joint European foreign policy is flawed because there is a democratic deficit over the Lisbon Treaty (which has not been legitimised by a democratic vote of the British people). So what does our foreign policy amount to? This is a crucial question for the self-identity of the British people collectively, and for the self-identity of all of us as individuals (and therefore, in a tortuous roundabout way, affects marketing since you cannot communicate with people unless you properly deal with the issue of identity).