Overcoming Cultural Self-Hatred

John O'Sullivan reviews A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900 by Andrew Roberts

'LES Anglo-Saxons," argues Andrew Roberts, were united by the English language and by the Common Law. Still more links were listed by Winston Churchill in 1943: "Common conceptions of what is right and decent, a marked regard for fair play, especially to the weak and poor, a stern sentiment of impartial justice and above all a love of personal freedom . . . these are the common conceptions on both sides of the ocean among the English-speaking peoples."

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Unfortunately, as Roberts demonstrates, major obstacles persistently obstruct our staying together.

For the first three-quarters of the last century the largest such obstacle was America's anti-imperialism. This began as the result of a national myth that exaggerated the oppressive character of George III's rule and exalted America as a revolutionary power hostile to all imperialism but especially the British sort.

In fact, the British Empire was a liberal one. And though the United States was self-consciously anti-imperialist, its "grand strategy" bore a strong resemblance to Palmerston's definition of British imperial policy: "Trade without the flag where possible; trade with the flag where necessary."

In other words, the United States and Britain were pursuing similar policies in practice, but their rhetoric and self-understanding were different and even opposed. And these theoretical disagreements were not strong enough to prevent the rapprochement that began in 1895 and was cemented by World War II.

Still, the effects of U.S. anti-imperialism linger. Because the demise of the last European empires coincided with the Vietnam War, the charge of imperialism was quickly turned against the United States itself.

More significant, since Americans still like to think they are anti-imperialists, the charge of imperialism has the effect of hobbling U.S. foreign policy: Either Washington shrinks from necessary interventions or it shrinks from staying long enough to ensure that difficult interventions succeed.

A second obstacle to Anglo unity, fully and worrisomely acknowledged by Roberts, is the emergence in the English-speaking countries of a cultural self-hatred. There is now a substantial lumpen intelligentsia of teachers, clergymen and "knowledge workers" whose first reaction to almost any international controversy is to "blame America (or England, or Australia, etc.) first."

It might be easier to recover from this malady were it not for a third problem: the appeal of competing identities.

A few years ago, all the English-speaking countries seemed to be spinning outward into new identities based in part on geography: Britain was said to be becoming "European Australia embracing an "Asian" identity; the United States choosing a Hispanic-flavored multiculturalism; the Canadians constructing a "new Canadian nationalism" rooted in anti-Americanism, etc.

This boded ill for any prospect that the English-speaking world would continue to operate with its old cohesion. But, with the sad exception of Britain (still being absorbed against the popular will into a regulatory European state based on Roman Law), these fashions have gone into sharp reverse owing to 9/11, the challenge of jihadism and the worldwide communications revolution (which has raised culture above geography).

Can the English-speaking peoples overcome these obstacles to continue playing their hegemonic role of the 20th century into the future? The prospects are not good, if we are thinking of the traditional definition of the English-speaking peoples - i.e., the United States, Britain and the "white Dominions." But another definition is at hand, namely the Anglosphere.

The Anglosphere includes nations such as India, where the English language and culture may be emerging as the single most important element in a multiethnic society. It's perhaps the first monolingual multicultural identity in history and as such able to encompass diverse groups within itself.

This civilizational identity is matched in practical politics by strategic developments such as an emerging Indo-U.S. military alliance. And, thanks to some geopolitical Fairy Godmother (who looks oddly like Osama bin Laden), almost all the candidates for Anglosphere membership have had war declared on them by the jihadists. So the fourth great challenge - jihadism - may deepen, extend and prolong the life of the English-speaking world.