This group photo of the leaders of the G7 summit highlights a group of U.S. secondary allies

　　■ Observer

　　The reality is as reflected in the photos taken by the leaders of the G7 summit. Britain and the United States have difficulty integrating even the G7, let alone reshaping the world order.

　　During the G7 summit, a group photo of the summit leaders received widespread attention.

　　In this photo, in addition to the discussion on the positions of leaders of various countries, as the host country of the G7 summit in the United Kingdom, Johnson received a "global Britain" opportunity with a C position.

And this group photo seems to reveal Johnson's ambitions, as well as the structure and vision of Britain's "global order".

　　The UK occupies the C position

　　Coincident with the "Global Britain" attempt

　　Prior to the G7 summit, the leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States signed the so-called "New Atlantic Charter," and their ambitions to jointly shape the world order are clearly on paper.

At this G7 summit, there were both Biden's oath and performance of "America Back" and Johnson's attempt at "Global Britain", which attracted the attention of all parties.

　　The intensive coverage of the summit by the western media not only reflects the self-expectation of G7, but also reflects the embarrassment and sense of crisis that G7 can hardly dominate the world.

The group photo of the leaders contains the "secret" that the G7 will find the position of the world order in the rapidly changing world.

　　In fact, as the host country, it is only natural for Britain to occupy the C position, but it coincides with Johnson's "global Britain" attempt.

　　It is worth noting that the G7 leaders did not wear masks, which implies the G7's self-confidence to get out of the epidemic, but they have maintained "social distancing."

The background is that epidemic prevention and control and vaccine production and distribution are one of the core topics of the summit.

　　The leaders in the photo are divided into two rows, which is a kind of "station" worthy of fun.

Standing in the first row is the "mainstay", with Britain, France, the United States and Germany plus, while Italy and Japan can only stand in the second echelon "embarrassed".

In other words, Italy and Japan are not core members of the G7.

　　The two leaders of the European Union in the back row, Michel and Von der Lein belonged to the "counseling meeting".

Moreover, in the group photo of the previous G7 summit, EU leaders are also in a marginal position.

For the EU, which is seeking strategic autonomy, this embarrassing G7 position has already made it clear that the EU has a long way to go if it wants to become a geostrategic force.

　　In the photo, Johnson's left and right sides are France, Germany and the United States and Canada.

Even if this is an unintentional arrangement, it also reveals to a certain extent the British perception of the current Western world, that is, the division between Europe and the United States.

　　After Brexit, France and Germany have once again become the dual axis of the European Union, and the European Union has further become a continental power.

The United States and Canada were originally the legacy of the British Empire.

Can Britain, in the middle, become a bridge between North America and Europe?

Johnson seems to be deliberately playing such a role, but in fact, since Brexit, Britain has lost the channel to intervene in European affairs.

　　"New Atlantic Charter"

　　Obviously "painting a tiger is not an anti-dog"

　　Although the Brexit agreement has been completed and the UK has officially left the European Union, the biggest challenge it brings is the border issue of Northern Ireland.

And this is a complicated boundary issue that overlaps the triple attributes of nation, country, and region.

　　Britain relied on the English Channel to be "honorably isolated", but now it has a land border with the European Union.

During the G7 summit, the talks between Johnson and the two EU leaders were very unsuccessful, and the sequelae of Brexit were revealed.

　　The English Channel is wider than the Atlantic Ocean.

The tension between Britain and the two major European countries of France and Germany, as well as Brussels, made Johnson turn to the special relationship between Britain and the United States, just like Churchill back then.

But instead of using the term "special relationship", he used the term "unbreakable", which seemed to be escalating the relationship between Britain and the United States.

　　To this end, the United Kingdom and the United States also signed the so-called "New Atlantic Charter" in a "learning manner". It has 8 articles like the 1941 Atlantic Charter, but it is obvious that "painting a tiger is not an anti-dog."

　　The Atlantic Charter of 1941 was an anti-fascist declaration during the Second World War and an important foundation for the postwar world order, especially the "dissolution" of the British Empire and the establishment of a free trade economic order dominated by the United States.

The "New Atlantic Charter" signed by the United Kingdom and the United States this time is not so much the construction of a new world order as it is to impose the Cold War order on the world. The so-called "rule-based international order" is the order of the British and American coterie.

　　The current world is already a center of multiple powers. The reality is as reflected in the photos of the leaders of the G7 summit. It is difficult for Britain and the United States to integrate even the G7, let alone reshaping the world order.

　　From this point of view, the "New Atlantic Charter" is just a "straw" for Johnson to regain the special relationship between Britain and the United States, and whether it is "The United States is back" or "Global Britain", it is just a "return to light" of the Anglo-American hegemony system.

　　□Sun Xingjie (Deputy Director and Professor of the Institute of International Relations, Jilin University)