Letter From the UK (About Russia as Rogue-State)

Russia must choose between respecting the law of nations and becoming a rogue state

By Daniel Hannan 
Last updated: July 19th, 2014
The Telegraph


Lord Palmerston was our last Whig prime minister, and probably the most ebullient patriot ever to occupy 10 Downing Street. When a French Ambassador politely told him, "If I had not been born French, I should wish to have been born British," Palmerston replied, "If I had not been born British, I should wish to have been born British". On another occasion, informed by his French counterpart that the English had no word equivalent to the French word sensibilité, he snapped back: "Yes we have – humbug!"

So when, in 1858, the French government demanded restitution from Britain over a failed attempt on the life of Napoleon III by an Italian nationalist named Felice Orsini, who was said to have had support from British radicals, many expected a brusque response from the peppery 76-year-old PM: perhaps the despatch of a gunboat to the Seine to teach Frenchie better manners.

Instead, Palmerston reacted with horror to what had happened. He ordered prosecutions against the British radicals accused of having abetted Orsini, and introduced a Conspiracy to Murder Bill into Parliament. He did these things at a time when the United Kingdom was without question the world's leading power, able to enforce her will on every continent and archipelago.

Note that no one was accusing the British state, either directly or indirectly, of having been implicated in the assassination attempt. The complaint, rather, was that the authorities had not kept a proper eye on potential terrorists living under British jurisdiction. Orsini had learned how to make his bombs, and seemed to have acquired his materials, while exiled in London. The modern equivalent might be – to pluck an example from the air – turning a blind eye to the acquisition of a surface-to-air missile launcher by a paramilitary group supported by your own armed forces.


Palmerston didn't have to worry about foreign pressure: Britain in 1858 was immensely more feared and respected than Russia in 2014. But the old man understood that the United Kingdom, of all nations, must respect the rules. The politician who, eight years earlier, had ordered the blockade of Piraeus and the seizure of Greek shipping in pursuit of compensation for Don Pacifico, a Portuguese Jew who, by virtue of having been born in Gibraltar, had a claim on British protection, now applied the law as sternly to his own country. Pam knew that law is what lifts men from savagery. When a small nation turns rogue, it's an inconvenience; when a great power does so, it's a calamity.

Over to you, President Putin.