UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he wants an evolution for Britain’s role in the world. But two months into his term, Sunak’s approach appears to be caution, offering change around the edges of Britain’s foreign policy and showing himself to be a technocratic and careful operator abroad. Continuity is not a negative by itself. But with Russia’s upending of Europe’s security and the geopolitical shift toward the Indo-Pacific, Sunak needs to offer more if Britain is to be a partner of first resort.
With neither the background nor the experience of a statesman, Sunak’s foreign-policy credentials were the biggest question mark on his résumé. Taking office amid a year of chaos in London—which saw Liz Truss’s historically brief premiership and the end of Boris Johnson’s unruly tenure—…
