Why Britain Will Never Be A Global Power Again
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic.
My dear Britons, have you heard of this saying?
“Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
I doubt it. One-tenth of Brits don’t know that Hitler was involved in II World War.
Recently I’ve overheard a conversation between two Brits “ I am glad we left the EU, it was the middle of this crisis anyway, we can now watch them safely from the sidelines while the EU sorts their own troubles.”
Wow. They really do believe that, don’t they?
Yes, they do. Because Mr. Johnson tells them so. Nearly 20% of Brits have never even left the inside of their little homes. I wonder why. ..May it be due to their financial struggles? Astonishing 23 % of Brits are on the verge of poverty.
Or perhaps it is due to “health issues” Brits are experiencing? Almost 63 % of adults are overweight in England and unfortunately, the country is known as the most obese in Western Europe.
Perhaps both.
What I do know is that none of my friends is able to get anything shipped “on time” from the EU to Britain or vice versa. What I do know, is that I am working with 95% of EU based companies because my fellow Brits are on furlough or unemployed. And what I do know, is that Brits are now officially a Third World Country — welcome!
What I also know is that exports from Britain to the European Union fell by 41 %, while imports of EU goods to Britain fell by 30%. Industrial production fell by 1.5 % in January 2021.
The UK economy recorded its worst economic performance for more than 300 years in 2020
They are currently facing the worst recession since The Great Frost of 1709. While the U.S. economy shrank by 3.5% last year, the UK economy decreased by nearly 10%.
Wow.
What my fellow Brits think they know is that they are a superpower anyway. And they can take on anyone they wish. After all, just recently they announced they will be increasing an overall cap on the number of warheads to 260.
Allegedly the UK will shift focus towards Indo-Pacific countries, challenging China. Outlining the strategy to MPs, Boris Johnson said the UK will “relearn the art” of competing against countries with “opposing values”.
Yeah right. What year is this? Is Britain still an Empire?
Perhaps Britain is drawing from the memories of when the UK had a global dominion and floated on free trade rules which were enforced in its favour, bolstered by an unrivalled naval capacity.
Back then Britain was secure. While European nations constantly fought with each other, Britain was safe. France and many other countries suffered devastation in two world wars, but the UK “participated” from afar.
These distinct differences in historical experience meant that even after the demise of the empire Britain was heavily reliant on Europe. Perhaps Britain was allergic to the idea of integration with the European continent all along.
So Britain left the European Union and started hyping itself up as a “Pacific power” again.
But the reality is that this is based on nostalgia There’s a hole in this plan, given that the UK’s own exports to Europe have severely crashed the imposition of the Brexit deal.
How exactly does a focus towards the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and an enhanced militarization improve Britain position?
It doesn’t. Britain’s previous success in this region was built upon the absolute control of resources in vast colonial domains.
On that premise, British companies had the power to open up and exploit any country as they pleased, and trade from it. Britain was truly global because it had the resources to sway everything in its favour, was able to link regional trading networks together, and was not bound by geography.
My parents were born in a country that doesn’t exist anymore
Yugoslavia, an anomaly — a Communist state that allowed free travel to the West and promoted “self-identity,” unlike the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia composed of six sovereign countries was a perfect blend of the best qualities that each country possessed.
I used to dream about Yugoslavia. I used to bathe in the warmest sea, climb the highest mountains, explore the deepest caves and sit down in the company of the most noblemen. In the middle of the night, I used to open the world’s atlas but could not locate her. The lost country, the Atlantis, the legend and the myth. Perhaps she never existed. Somehow, I never stopped searching.
I did not find Yugoslavia, instead I “found” United Kingdom. I’ve lived in the United Kingdom, which eerily reminds me of the once-powerful Yugoslavia.
The United Kingdom is like Yugoslavia
A multinational state born out of a historical project that often overlapped with the imperial project of the country that would form the core of the multinational federation.
In Yugoslavia, it was Serbia. In the UK, this was England. Like the English in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, the Serbs in Croatia, Kosovo and Bosnia were perceived as brute conquerors.
Serbs felt misunderstood by the populations they were trying to integrate. The non-English in the UK, the non-Serbs in Yugoslavia felt bullied and colonized by their more powerful big brother. But somehow they assembled messily, but durable, multinational experiment. For minorities who were not satisfied, there were special provisions.
The next step was to create a multinational identity that would overrule the deeply entrenched national identities of the constitutive units. Britishness was never really an official policy of the UK, just as Yugoslavs was never really an official policy of post-World War II Yugoslavia.
Instead, the leaders hoped that out of years, decades, and centuries of interethnic interactions, the English, Welsh, Scots and Northern Irish would come to see themselves as Brits. The same way as the Serbs, Croats, Muslims, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins would come to see themselves as Yugoslavs.
The UK and the membership of the EU — redirected their frustrations towards Brussels. For Yugoslavia, the Cold War and the special relationship the country had with both the West and the East tamed internal nationalisms. Then, the Berlin Wall fell down and so too did Yugoslavia.
If there is one lesson that the fellow citizens of the United Kingdom should have took from Yugoslavia it is this: referendums are terrible.
Unlike in elections, the losing side cannot redirect its anger into winning the next round because the matter had supposedly been settled forever. And forever is a long time.
The latest numbers of British citizens leaving for European Union countries are at a 10-year high. This grudgingly reminds me of “Yugoslavs” fleeting after the Yugoslav war to Germany, Austria and other European countries.
The world is now a very different place and the Brits don’t see that
Britannia doesn’t rule the waves anymore, and it is merely an observer rather than a driver of events there and a so-called ‘global cop’.
Britain will get worse. The dream of a Great Britain, stable, prosperous, safe place is gone. The value of the British passport is decreasing, as is the value of the pound, and many don’t realize but to the government perhaps even the value of the British national is decreasing.
Perhaps this question should not be directed to what’s next for the UK, but what is next for you?
There is nothing Great about Britain anymore.
My genuine condolences.
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