If not England, Germany

The United States should seek a deeper relationship with Germany in the wake of Britain’s vote to depart the European Union, Nicholas Burns, a former US ambassador to NATO, said Monday at an Atlantic Council event in Washington, D.C. Speaking along with retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, a former commander of US European Command and national security advisor to President Obama, to introduce their coauthored report on the future of NATO, Burns said Britain’s exit would leave a gap of like-minded allies within the EU. “We certainly are going to need to see the United States embrace the United Kingdom in our special relationship,” Burns said, noting it has the fifth largest economy in the world and second strongest military in NATO. “We’ll still be able to work with them in the NATO, but we won’t have the British to be the tough-minded pragmatic voice within EU councils” on issues like continuing sanctions against Russia. Germany is the “dominant country of the European Union with the most respected leader in Europe, Angela Merkel,” he said. “The relationship between the American President and the German chancellor with the British exiting [the EU], if that’s what happens, … becomes central to everything the United States needs to do in Europe.”