The news that Somali referee Abdi Artan has been barred from entering the United States has provoked the expected howls of outrage from the British sports community. Letters of protest, petitions, and the usual hand-wringing have followed, as if this single, obscure case represents some great moral failing of the West. But let us pause, take a breath, and consider the matter with the cold eye of historical perspective.
We are witnessing not injustice, but the grumpy, unlovely face of a nation that has finally tired of being the world’s doormat. The American travel ban is crude, yes. It is bureaucratic, ham-fisted, and probably counterproductive.
But it is also a symptom of a deeper truth: the liberal internationalist consensus that has governed Western policy since 1945 is crumbling. We, the British, who love to lecture others on human rights while our own cities crack under the weight of uncontrolled immigration, might do well to look inward. The Artan affair is a distraction.
The real story is the death of the fantasy that globalism and open borders can coexist with social cohesion and national security. The referee will find another tournament. The West may not be so lucky.
