David Cameron's government, although pulled to the centre by coalition with the Liberal Democrats, seems bent on pursuing a traditional Conservative foreign policy: cosy up to the US while giving Europe short shrift.

This approach may be comforting to the Tory faithful, for whom the European Union is a no-go zone, but the effort to reclaim the US-UK “special relationship” as the foundation of British statecraft promises to leave Britain in a geopolitical no-man's land and marginalise its international influence. The UK will enjoy far greater sway over transatlantic and global affairs by becoming a leading voice within the EU than by investing in an Anglo-American coupling that has lost much of its raison d'être.

Although the government has thus far held its fire on the EU, William Hague, the foreign secretary, had been in office only three days before crossing the Atlantic to meet Hillary Clinton, secretary of state, and affirm that the US “is without doubt the most important ally” of the UK.