The English-speaking century

The New Criterion ^ | February 2007 | Keith Windschuttle

[Onelifetogive]

“Fortunately, the English-speaking peoples’ wars are fought by professional soldiers under the direction of elected politicians, with intellectuals having very little to do with them until they are safely won, after which they can criticize with hindsight and moral superiority.”

I wish this were so...

[traviskicks]

thanks for posting this, looks like my type of historian. :)ill try to check it out.

[traviskicks]

"The policies of free-trade liberalism, which in the nineteenth century made Britain the economic powerhouse of the world, were revived in our own time to achieve the same for the United States and its trading partners."

What say you protectionists? :)

[Old Professer]

This is far too long a read here to fully digest between fundraisers but I am bookmarking it before it is translated or lost.

[Desron13]

Seems to me that virtually all of his points are right on the mark.

[California Patriot]

Good review. Sounds like a great book.

[Old Dirty Bastiat]

These are compelling arguments, but I wonder if the author is focusing too much on language rather than freedom. It is easy to conflate the two since English speaking people are generally the most free, but I think a closer correlation to prosperity can be found by studying the correlation with economic freedom. As far as military alliances go, it's true that the alliances tend to be among English speaking countries, but again, these countries also happen to be free. When is the last time two free countries were on opposite sides in a shooting war?

[Tainan]

When is the last time two free countries were on opposite sides in a shooting war?

Now this is a most excellent question!

[BnBlFlag]

The problem is, the U.S. is on the road to becoming a Spanish speaking country.

[truth_seeker]

Saw the author on cSpan book review. It was published before the 2006 midterm elections.

He stated that the British Parliament would NOT undertake the non-binding bill passed in the House.

He said the bill undercuts the troops, which he said the House of Commons would NOT do.

Interesting.

[GATOR NAVY]

bump for later read.

[napscoordinator]

I think we will be a bilingual country. I believe that everything will have both languages on everything. It is like that in most countries with English and then the language spoken in that country.

[Fraxinus]

bump till later comment

[Fraxinus]

rather than “the century of the common man” or “the American century,” Roberts calls it the century of the English-speaking peoples, and emphasizes that it is far from over.

A key point often glossed over by those who in an effort to get jingoistic readers is that the British empire was still a very important institution untill almost 1950. Central and Eastern Europe was more concerned by British efforts (and then often not very) than US actions, given that the only group with an interest in the US was the Jews who prior to 1914 were moving to the US in significant numbers. Out side of Latin America the US was only important in China and the Philippines, even Japan at this period (pre 1914) was more interested in the actions of Germany and Britain.

Also highlighted is the tendency of culturally similar groups to be allies when threatened thus the current and enduring alliance between Australia and the US. The other big shift to be discussed is the shift of military and cultural leadership from Britain to the US without a war fought between the countries. Even today entertainment acts and other cultural displays can come out of any of the English speaking countries and go on profitable tours of many or all of the rest.

[nwrep]

When is the last time two free countries were on opposite sides in a shooting war?

How about the War of 1812?

[TexasRepublic]

The British historian Andrew Roberts credits the English speaking peoples' ascendency to the Protestant ethic. Accepting that thesis, then, due to the decline of Christianity in the English speaking world, it isn't hard to predict the eventual marginalization of the English speaking world. Hello, Islam!

[neverdem]

Accepting that thesis, then, due to the decline of Christianity in the English speaking world, it isn't hard to predict the eventual marginalization of the English speaking world. Hello, Islam!

Hello burqa! I don't think the ladies will agree.

[neverdem]

Rudolph Giuliani? The author does about the same job on Rudy as he did on Mitt. I doubt that he cares for McCain either.

Mitt Romney: A Massachusetts Liberal for President

Orwell’s “Catalonia” revisited George Orwell had a journey similar to Whittaker Chambers. The author, Anthony Daniels MD, also uses the pseudonym Theodore Dalrymple.

From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[Tainan]

When is the last time two free countries were on opposite sides in a shooting war?
How about the War of 1812?

I was thinking further on this...an argument could be made that Germany was a "free country" during WWII. German citizens could travel across international birders if they wanted to. As did Japanese citizens during the same time period. And then there is the US Civil War - both sides would probably be considered 'free,' maybe not the slaves though.

Upon reflection, this probably wasn't as strong as I first thought.