The Brexit of Britain, which
is one of those Great European Imperial Powers that once had an empire and
therefore it has a historic tendency to think in an imperialist manner
and with a superiority complex.
by Alex Naughton, editing by Earl of Cruise
One star left the European Union
Britain for example had a superiority complex over its colonies such as
Africa, South East Asia and the Middle East and native peoples of
Australia and New Zealand for example. However this perceived
superiority is misguided and wrong. All peoples are equal
and every perspective has their opinion and that is at the heart of
free speech and our values.
Our
traditional distrust of China in the West is also perhaps misguided and
clouded by our imperial mindset and superiority complex. Many of the
European powers and America had
trading posts / colonies in China for many years but were thrown out
after the Opium Wars. Some countries such as Britain retained some
territory such as Hong Kong. But this historic trauma clouded their
perception. Since the opening up of China in the 1970s,
despite being called the Communist Party, they have been on a
transition towards a Chinese version of Capitalism but without the
adverse impacts of Western Capitalism. Their governance system remains
very centralised and state orientated but this enables them
to plan long term and transition their economy in a very managed way.
So arguably their economy and outlook is more capitalist than you may
first imagine. Perhaps the Communist Party is just a political party and
so communist in name only. President Xi recently
at the World Economic Forum surprisingly gave a speech promoting
globalisation and capitalism calling on countries around the world to
stand up to rising nationalism and protectionism. A major plank of
China's economic policy is reaching out through its One
Road One Belt policy to create a New Silk Road to Europe, South East
Asia and Russia. Likewise they have set up various banking and financial
institutions to support these strategic policies and they continue to
invest heavily in infrastructure and other activities
in many parts of the world including Africa and elsewhere. So they
arguably are Global China. Yes there may be scope for tension with the
USA and Japan over certain policy positions such as South China Sea and
so on, but China is a growing economic, political
and military power on the world stage so there may be benefits to
keeping a more open mind on them.
The British Empire 1915 - Source: britishempire.co.uk
Indeed
many of the problems today in the Middle East date back to the period
of the First World War when the Ottoman Empire was collapsing (a
protectorate of Britain) and was being
carved up by Britain and France.
The construction of the Hedsha Railway and the Bagdad Railway supported and financed by the Deutsches Kaiserreich and German Banks, and the financial support by the German gouvernment, was a threat to British interests in and with the Ottoman Empire.
by Earl Cruise
Sykes and Picot divided up the Middle
East into British and French areas behind the backs of the Arabs.
Through this the boundaries of the modern Middle East were created and
all the modern day national flags were designed
as well. It also promised Russia that it could give them Istanbul to
maintain Russia's access to its naval bases in Crimea from the
Mediterranean. While Britain's concern was to maintain the sea route to
India via the Suez Canal and an overland route to India
via Istanbul and Baghdad to Basra and then by sea through Persian Gulf.
The French likewise wanted to protect their sea route to Indo China via
Suez. Also another big factor was oil. The only international area on
this map was Palestine. This was the first
promise. The second was when Britain promised the Arab peoples a single
nation covering the whole Middle East from modern Turkey south to
modern Yemen. However all these promises were rescinded upon for the
imperial interests of Britain and France. France
got much of North Africa and Lebanon and Syria. Britain got the rest
including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Aden, United Arab
Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Palestine, Iraq and Iran as "mandates"
under agreement with the UN. Yet these were in effect
colonies as Britain didn't feel that the Arab peoples were well trained
enough to govern themselves yet (despite agreeing with their wish for
independence) so felt the need to rule them as colonies for a period to
teach them how to govern. In the 1920s Turkey
rebelled against the European powers and Ataturk created the Republic
of Turkey as a secular state thereby also shunning the Arabs as well.
The third promise that Britain made under pressure from the Rothschild
family was the Balfour Declaration which declared
Britain's intent to support the formation of a Jewish state somewhere
in the Middle East. This last promise was the only one implemented with
the creation of Israel after the Second World War partly to give
Britain's allies such as America and Russia something
to gain from at the end of the Second World War thereby keeping them
interested and involved in the war effort.
These
three "promises" especially the Sykes Picot Agreement are the root
causes of the problems in the Middle East today. Imperial "superiority
complexes" by Britain and France
not willing to understand that the Arabs may know how to govern
themselves or wish to have independence without being under their
imperial rule. Also Britain then was driven by a strong imperial intent
to maintain a sea route to India via the Suez Canal as
well as an overland route to India via Istanbul, Baghdad and Basra then
ship through Persian Gulf to India. This imperial legacy is also why
Britain has long relationships with countries such as Egypt, Jordan,
United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and
Saudi Arabia despite their authoritarian regimes.
The
imperial legacy of Britain also informs the underlying reasoning
perhaps why BREXIT occurred and Britain's sometimes indecisive attitude
towards the European Union. The British
culture and history has ingrained in its people an imperial legacy
including firstly a dislike of the word "Constitution" perhaps due to
the historic trauma of America leaving the British Empire. This has led
to an adverse reaction when the European Union
suggested a written constitution and also perhaps is why Britain
doesn't have a written constitution yet historically has written the
basis to many constitutions for countries around the world!
Secondly,
in history Britain has been invaded from the European Continent
including by the Vikings, Romans and Normans. This has ingrained a
slight wariness towards the European
Continent therefore informing perhaps out "in and out" relationship
with the European Union.
Also
thirdly we have been very allergic to the idea of a federal superstate
of the European Union perhaps due to the comparison with becoming the
United States of America but instead
a United States of Europe. Britain has been used to being an imperial
power of its own so doesn't perhaps like becoming subsumed under a
superstate of the European Union as the comparison with the USA then
becomes too close for comfort.
Fourthly
there is perhaps some hint of disquiet due to the current dominance of
Germany in the European Union both economically and politically which
some Brits may find strange
considering the situation around 70 years ago. Yet times change and
countries change. Germany certainly has changed in that 70 years and
today is an exemplar of a modern, liberal, democratic and open democracy
which strongly upholds international values and
freedoms. Indeed it perhaps is more cautious than many about its role
on the world stage or any leadership due to its own turbulent history as
it is only too aware of the consequences if its leadership goes wrong.
Lastly
Britain is an island nation and was centre of a global empire therefore
tends to think as an island and globally. It is very internationalist
in outlook because of its history
and imperial legacy.
The
UK arguably is an empire of England in some ways. Wales was the
earliest "colony" of England following the submission of the Welsh
through King Edward I and his great Welsh
Castles. Scotland was next beginning with the death of Queen Elizabeth I
and succession of the Scottish king to the English throne as James I.
Eventually the Act of Union was signed after the Scottish imperial
misadventure which was the Darien Scheme which
bankrupted Scotland causing them to have to be bailed out by England
thereby leading to the Act of Union. Indeed the English imperial legacy
is at the heart of the Irish Troubles due to mistreatment of the
Catholics of Ulster since Elizabethan times and imposition
and colonisation of Ulster with English and Scottish protestants. This
led to distrust of Catholics back in England due to propaganda. Under
King James I the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland were united for
the first time. Ulster was a pawn in the great
battle for control of England in the Jacobite period after the fall of
King James II. This religious strife continued until the 20th century
eventually leading to Irish independence expect for the more Protestant
dominated Northern Ireland. Thereby leading
to the continuing troubles there until the Good Friday Agreement.
However the BREXIT challenge could question the United Kingdom and its
future as a country as there is a risk of break up particularly with
Scotland and Northern Ireland.
As I keep saying we must not be complacent just because the status quo is currently that doesn't mean it will always be that.
Due
to its imperial legacy Britain is a very multicultural and
cosmopolitan country and welcoming to refugees and migrants from all
over the world. Indeed every nation is a nation
of migrants and refugees and Britain is a typical example of this fact.
So turning our back on such groups is wrong and goes against our
history as a human race. We are as a species are "Out of Africa" so we
are all migrants really. Hence perhaps our yearning
to look beyond just Europe and have relationships and trade all over
the world. We also have a close bond with the USA and countries of the
Commonwealth due to the legacy of the British Empire as well as being an
inherently and geographically European country
(we are Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Viking, Roman, Norman, French,
Scottish, Dutch, German, etc).
But
because of the EU we feel or have the perception of being constrained
in this currently hence the wish to break free and become a global
nation again despite us always being
this through our history and it never having gone away. This despite
many of the benefits of the European Union such as the single market
being British inspired. Indeed it was Churchill who first called for a
United States of Europe in gathering gloom of
the Cold War as the Iron Curtain fell across Europe. After the Second
World War it was the imperial mindset of Britain and Russia that carved
up Europe with many of the countries in the East being given up to
communist rule under Russia's Soviet Union and
Stalin. At that time it was the dominance of the Big Three - Britain,
America and Russia that ruled the world. The occupation of Germany and
Japan by these powers also led to their rise to economic dominance in
more recent years as well. They were so destroyed
that they had to work hard and rebuild from scratch. It is worth
remembering that much of today's global order was created as a legacy of
the Second World War by Britain and America including the World Bank,
NATO and the United Nations.
But
the perception of the British people regarding the EU appears to be of
interference and rule by Brussels thereby leading to the fear that we
are being ruled as a colony of the
European collective which as outlined above seems too close for comfort
to the United States of America - the colony that escaped from the
British Empire. We don't like being ruled by others it seems!
I
feel that these points are at the root of our philosophy as a nation
and culture as well as perhaps informing our BREXIT decision. When
negotiating and developing our new role
in the world these points would be worth keeping in mind. They are at
our core as a nation.
I
think it is important to learn the lessons of our history but also take
inspiration and joy from our history to build the future.
Alex
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