(DOWNLOAD) "Nations vs Imperial Unions in a Time of Globalization, 1707-2007 (Commentary) (Essay)" by Arena Journal * eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Nations vs Imperial Unions in a Time of Globalization, 1707-2007 (Commentary) (Essay)
- Author : Arena Journal
- Release Date : January 22, 2007
- Genre: Religion & Spirituality,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 193 KB
Description
In the circumstances of intensifying globalization, all nations are becoming mongrels, hybrids or foundlings, but old empires die hard. May 2007 marked the three-hundredth anniversary of the state that founded Australia--the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This elderly piece of multiculturalism has endured various titles like 'Britain' and 'Great Britain', all intended to make it sound more united than it ever was. At one time a rather swank lodger hung about the place as well: 'the Empire'. This dubious character was addicted to corporate planetary takeovers, thanks to a naval fighting machine that outclassed all competitors, and a similarly overblown financial apparatus, the City of London. The lodger's formula was neat but effective: punish the populations that object to the takeover terms. Is this too summary a definition of 'GB'? Yes, but objectors need not protest too much: the most successful imperial recipe from history's cookbook can stand plenty of disparagement. Also, it has always been apologized for with every sort of civilization-and-culture attachment, from Shakespeare of Stratford down to TV's 'Little Britain'. By comparison, Spain, France, Germany, Japan and Russia were failures in the imperium business. As I write, we find President Bush lounging awkwardly by the side door of the same has-been's club, hoping that he may yet sidle in without attracting too much attention. Until 2006, Britain alone appeared to have managed a half-convincing post-imperial act--a return to something like national normality, without revolution, defeat or humiliation. But that was yesterday. Today something different is emerging, and there is little doubt about the four-letter word that has made this difference. British imperialists thought up 'Iraq' in the early 20th century, with motives not unlike those of Bush nearly a century later. In 2003, Tony Blair's New Labour government made the deadly mistake of both trusting ancestral creation and motives, and 'helping out' with another invasion of Mesopotamia. John Howard trotted on behind, fortunately on a much smaller scale. Both thought that national advantage lay in continuing to support the Greatness business. However, fortunately, the world has changed and, 'terrorism' notwithstanding, not wholly for the worse. We will not know for some time yet what the full costs will be for the United Sates and Australia. For 'Britain', however, they could not be more serious: extinction.