It is, even now, a country with the talent, history and capacity to shape the international order. -- no it isn't -- I lived there from 2000 to 2005 and the rot was already apparent. The rot I preseume started in teh 70s with the easing up of education int he UK -- many Brits did not know history, maths or indeed much of anything. There are brilliant Brits, yes, but these are not the Empire builders of yore
Even this year barely 1/3rd of Brits know that Waterloo was a battle not an Abba song...
If you lived here, you will know a—we don’t answer opinion polls seriously b—we DO know Waterloo is a famous battle.
Methinks the poll was what do you first think of when you hear the word Waterloo. And given that the UK has been ABBA mad (inc me) for 40 yrs, the answer makes sense.