This article was first published on 26 June 2025 on Kirsty Hughes’s substack at https://kirstyhughes.substack.com/p/rogue-states-and-the-state-of-our.
By Kirsty Hughes
Last Saturday night, the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities at Fordo (and other sites), joining in Israel’s ten day war against Iran. By Monday night, President Trump was declaring he’d sorted an Israel-Iran ceasefire. A few hours later, on Tuesday morning, as it seemed both Iran and Israel, most of all, had broken the ceasefire, Trump posted that neither side knew “what the fuck they’re doing” – although apparently Trump and the US did.
From subsequent media, you might imagine the US had never followed Israel into what was, surely, an illegal war, as the focus-shifted to Trump blasting Israel: “DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS”. But we know that none of these three rogue states, Iran, Israel and the US, nor their rogue presidents, have much time for legality or for international institutions, not least the UN.
Watching nervously from the sidelines were the European Union and the UK, amongst many others in the Middle East and around the world. The European approach to managing the rogue state and rogue president of the US, as evidenced by the last week, does not seem to be going very well.
And our democracies – and our international institutions – are being damaged in the process. If our democratic leaders cannot be honest about what is going on, defend international law and human rights, push back against deeply destabilising geopolitics from these rogue states, and stick to vital long term security policies, notably on climate, then our democracies are in an ever-weakened state.
European and UK appeasement
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has avoided questions on the legality of the US and Israeli action. But it seems from reports, that the Attorney General advised that the UK should not be involved in any way, unless genuinely defensive. For France, President Macron did have the courage to say: “There is no legality in these strikes, even if France supports the objective of preventing Iran from getting the nuclear bomb”, adding the US lacked a “legal framework” for its actions. Yet today, Thursday, Keir Starmer gave more not less support to Trump’s bombing of Iran, telling the Commons: “what happened on Saturday night was a big step towards alleviating that threat (from Iran), and that is really important.”
On Wednesday, there was a collective display of appeasement of Trump and the US from European and other allies at the NATO summit in Brussels, acceding to Trump’s demands that NATO countries raise their defence spending to 5% (albeit with Spain getting a quasi-opt out). The summit produced the most excruciating, toe-curling, display of appeasement from its secretary general, Mark Rutte, who praised Trump fulsomely, finally referring to him as daddy: “”Then daddy has to sometimes use strong language”, he said referring to Iran and Israel in a joint press conference with Trump.
It’s well understood that European states, including the UK, are desperate to maintain US military and security support while they attempt to build up their defences. But can our democracies bear the weight of all this dissembling and dishonesty about what is going on, as Trump completely destabilises global politics and deliberately weakens global institutions?
Putting all the blame for increased defence spending on Russian aggression (while, in the UK’s case, cutting disability benefits) yet not calling out what is happening in the US, both its steps to authoritarianism internally and its destructive geopolitics, means any honest debate takes place a long way outside the circle of our democratic heads of government.
Israel and Gaza
For Israel, in the short term, this has been a great couple of weeks. Its attacks on Iran successfully diverted many governments (and media) attention from the growing international horror at the daily shooting by the IDF of dozens of Palestinians desperately trying to get aid from the deadly and chaotic provision by the US-based, and Israel-backed, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Meanwhile, EU leaders have moved on to their regular summit today and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday, 26-27 June). And Starmer has returned to the UK to attempt to appease the rebellion by Labour MPs to his disability benefit cuts (though only around 10 out of 37 Scottish Labour MPs are amongst their number).
But starving Palestinians need action now and yesterday, not just as and when heads of government can occasionally give priority focus to this genocide.
This Monday, EU foreign ministers received a report that said there were “indications” of Israel not meeting its human rights obligations in the EU-Israel Association (i.e. trade) Agreement. Only Spain pushed for an immediate full suspension of the agreement, though Ireland, Belgium and Sweden also called for action, while Germany, Greece, Italy and Hungary were amongst those opposing even small steps such as this.
EU politics ‘as usual’?
At their current summit, the EU leaders are due to discuss geo-economics, which will include considering trade retaliation measures in case a US-EU deal on tariffs is not forthcoming. Talks on Ukraine and Russia are also scheduled. Other topics include the ‘situation’ in the Middle East including Gaza, and European security and defence, EU competitiveness, and migration.
The climate crisis is not headlined anywhere on the agenda. But centre-left MEPs are unhappy that von der Leyen is giving ground on a number of green measures to the increasingly climate-obstructive centre-right EPP group that is her main political base. The Commission created confusion last week over whether or not it was withdrawing an anti-greenwashing law – a law that now looks unlikely to pass anyway. Now, France is reported to be pushing to weaken the EU’s Paris Agreement 2035 targets – required to be submitted by September. Politically, the EU needs its leaders and the Commission to hold firm – not to weaken repeatedly.
Meanwhile, far right MEPs have called for a no confidence motion in von der Leyen in the European Parliament over the Pfizergate scandal. It is unlikely to pass, but with von der Leyen’s backtracking on her first term priority European Green Deal, in line with the EPP, her centrist majority support in the parliament could get ever more fractured.
Unhappy UK politics
Back in the UK, the Labour rebellion on the major cuts planned to disability benefits looks like it may lead to some concessions from Starmer. Meanwhile, the ninth anniversary of Brexit passed without attention from the UK’s government.
Starmer will launch a new trade strategy today and trade minister, Douglas Alexander, said yesterday that there would be a focus on reducing barriers to UK’s global services trade – a bright spot in UK trade performance given the damage that Brexit continues to do to our goods trade. But reversing Brexit as the logical route to removing barriers gets no mention, unsurprisingly.
Yesterday, Keir Starmer announced, at the NATO summit, that the UK will purchase at least 12 fighter jets that can carry nuclear bombs – a huge, unwelcome announcement preceded by no debate at all. But if the US and Israel can attack Iran without prior debate, then why debate the UK dealing with growing geopolitical instability by attempting to ratchet up its nuclear ‘strength’ (albeit entirely dependent on the rogue power, the US, supplying the bombs).
The UK government reaches its first year anniversary of coming to power next week. There are few genuine accolades for its uneven, disconnected year where, domestically, fighting the threat of Reform in the opinion polls has come before a serious, progressive, well communicated and positive strategy of renewal. And internationally, the UK’s government has essentially kowtowed to the US more than any other European leader (albeit with the exception now of Mark Rutte).
Overall, it is a rather shabby dishonest politics – appeasing Trump on the global stage, denying the permanent damage of Brexit, deregulating in a vain attempt at promoting growth, putting military security way ahead of climate security, while aiming cuts at the poorest.
In our deeply uncertain and unstable world, dealing with rogue players and rogue states requires serious, honest and strategic politics and democratic debate. Dishonest language, appeasement, and an inability to stick to the most urgent priorities (most of all Gaza, and the climate crisis, and – domestically – poverty) should not be, but is, the order of the day. Trust is falling in governments around the world. Our democracies, and our world in crisis, demand so much better than this.
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