article_snippet: Indeed, his grandfather's unhappy experience in colonial-era Kenya gave his reason to dislike the English.
article_snippet: Obama the dispassionate analyst also found scant objective reason to prioritize the British alliance or Europe generally.
article_snippet: Worse still, in the U.S. view, is the possibility that a Labour-led government, potentially beholden to the unilateral nuclear disarmers of The SNP, could slacken The SNP commitment to Trident, the UK's nuclear missile submarine fleet.
article_snippet: The SNP says America can no longer afford a nuclear deterrent, morally or financially.
article_snippet: Washington's worries about Britain's role have been exacerbated by the lack of fight, as some see it, displayed by London when faced with the prospect of Scottish independence and the inevitable break-up of the United Kingdom.
article_snippet: Similar concerns apply to Britain's EU membership, which Cameron has placed in doubt by promising a national referendum by 2017.
article_snippet: An exit from EU would satisfy minority hardline nationalists in the UK Independence party.
article_snippet: But An exit from the EU would seriously undermine Britain's standing in the world, in relation to Europe and to the emerging Brics powers.
article_snippet: On these issues, it seems that Britain, by design or not, has little concrete to contribute.
article_snippet: Members of Parliament recently expressed strong dismay that Britain was doing so little.
article_snippet: Britain's horizons are narrowing.
article_snippet: Britain strength and global ambitions are fading.
article_snippet: Britain post-imperial destiny is that of a second-tier power.