Can a Bad Gift Affect International Relations?

I was amused to read about the kerfuffle in the UK over the supposedly rude treatment UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife received during his recent White House visit.

London newspapers are howling over a string of alleged snubs by Obama to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during his visit to Washington last week — including a squabble over presidential gift-giving.

“President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain,” sniffed The Daily Telegraph Friday. “His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling.”

The list of complaints is longer than the Magna Carta: Obama canceled a planned, podium-to-podium news conference with Brown (actually, none was ever scheduled); he recently removed a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchillfrom the Oval Office; and he gave gifts to the Brown family that were “about as exciting as a pair of socks,” one Fleet Street wag whined.

That last bit might be true. After Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk), Obama offered up … 25 DVDs of American movie classics.

“Oh, give me strength,” wrote one appalled Daily Telegraph staffer. “We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic.”

This may just be UK papers looking for something to write about, but it reminded me that traditional private diplomacy can also have an outsized impact on international relations. If the Obamas just don’t get along with the Browns, this could plausibly impact US-UK relations as much as any US public diplomacy campaign.  This doesn’t seem to make sense, given that nations have interests that seem more important than a crappy thoughtless gift that the President gave the PM. But clearly it has some effect. How much is hard to tell.