Little Britain?

Will economic downturn act as a catalyst for the UK to rethink its world role? Certainly that’s what a contentious piece in this week’s Newsweek contends.

Stryker Mcguire, who coined the phrase “Cool Britannia” in the mid nineties writes:

“Even in the decades after it lost its empire, Britain strode the world like a pocket superpower. Its economic strength and cultural heft, its nuclear-backed military might, its extraordinary relationship with America—all these things helped this small island nation to punch well above its weight class. Now all that is changing as the bills come due on Britain’s role in last year’s financial meltdown, the rescue of the banks, and the ensuing recession. Suddenly, the sun that once never set on the British Empire is casting long shadows over what’s left of Britain’s imperial ambitions, and the country is having to rethink its role in the world—perhaps as Little Britain, certainly as a lesser Britain.”

This topic doesn’t bolt onto the Politics syllabus in any way, but it is a thought provoking article and should be considered by those who want to extend their politics knowledge.