British Foreign Secretary Makes No Waves in Visit Across the Pond

What would happen if women ran the world? Well, judging from yesterday's joint appearance by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and new British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, things would be a whole lot more polite.

"It is really my great pleasure to welcome Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to the United States," Rice said as she introduced her beaming guest at the State Department, where they stood behind twin lecterns. "Margaret," she added, "it is really a delight to have you here."

The delight is mine, Beckett insisted. "It is a genuine and very real pleasure to be here again in Washington, but to be here for the first time as foreign secretary and with you, Condi." Further, Beckett said, "I entirely share all the sentiments you've expressed" and "I would wholeheartedly endorse what you said."

Rice handled the first question, about Iran, then turned to her British counterpart. "Margaret, do you want to --"

"Not really," Beckett demurred. "I think all I can do is, really, just say how much I agree with that."

Only a pot of tea and some cucumber sandwiches could have made things any cozier.

Just two months on the job and possessing little diplomatic experience, Beckett was on her best behavior as she made her first official visit to Washington. With a proper accent and impeccable manners, she seemed determined to avoid anything that might give her hosts offense.

Her visit started with the obligatory policy speech, in this case at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. Her 20-minute address, on "Globalization and Security," seemed at times to be critical of U.S. policy. She spoke of the "rising protectionism" and noted that Japan is more energy-efficient than the United States. She extolled the need "to put the global interest above what appears to be some limited self-interests." She warned that agricultural subsidies -- an American favorite -- are hurting poor nations.

A questioner asked whether Beckett was trying for a "gentle critique of U.S. foreign policy."

Heavens no. "It wasn't particularly meant to be a gentle critique," she said. "It's meant to be just a statement of where we are. I wouldn't venture to tell the United States where it ought to be."

Beckett was going wobbly.

In the luncheon news conference that followed, British reporters tried to stop the secretary from recanting her criticism. Noting Beckett's emphasis on the security threats of global warming, one asked if it was "because this administration has failed to recognize the science."

"No, I don't think that's fair," Beckett said, munching on a sandwich.

The reporter asked her to characterize the American position on global warming. "This is a question you put to an American politician, not to me," she said.

Even if there were differences, she maintained, "we're talking more about shades here than we are about being in a totally different place."

Another British reporter took a turn. "Is this something of a sea change?" he asked. "Is this Britain being a little more outspoken and forthright in its policy?"

"No, it isn't," Beckett answered, adding that nothing she said "should necessarily hit a sensitive nerve" in the Bush administration.

Where there were some clear differences, Beckett was almost apologetic. Asked about a U.S.-U.K. extradition treaty, which Britain has implemented but the Senate has failed to ratify, she said that she could "understand and accept" that it isn't an American priority. On the U.S. military prison, she asserted that "we would like to see Guantanamo Bay closed" before quickly adding: "My understanding is President Bush has said he would like to see Guantanamo Bay closed."

It was an impressive show of deference, even for a British government that has been famous for such behavior. Prime Minister Tony Blair followed Bush into Iraq so eagerly that he has been called Bush's "poodle" at home. Rice got so close to Beckett's predecessor, Jack Straw, that she gave him the bed in her cabin on a flight to Baghdad and slept on the floor in the aisle. The two visited each other's home towns, and Fleet Street hinted at romance.

There was not the same familiarity, nor much sign of similarity, as Rice and Beckett met in Foggy Bottom yesterday. Beckett, 12 years Rice's senior and several inches her junior, wore brown pants and a hairdo resembling Madeline Albright's. Rice was luminous in a yellow suit.

But the Labor minister and the Republican secretary were determined to be old friends. "We have met on a number of occasions," Rice said as they faced the cameras. Beckett continued this line of discussion. "We've talked, as you say, on many occasions and in many different cities," she said.

Minutes later, Beckett was on camera granting CNN's Wolf Blitzer an interview. He cited a poll of Britons finding that 77 percent "see President Bush as a pretty poor or terrible leader" and that 58 percent "believe that U.S. imperial power is seeking world domination."

Beckett would not stand for such rude talk. "Well, I think it's always possible to find an opinion poll that tells you something that gives you an interesting story," she said disapprovingly.

So determined was Beckett to mind her manners that she allowed only one possible dispute. "So far I've managed to avoid Condi telling me how much I would like American football," she reported. And the disagreement was mutual. "Shall I be urging Secretary Rice to watch a cricket match with me?" Beckett posed. "Probably not."