How an Empire Ended: Forgotten Wars
"Why should it be assumed that only a few Great Powers can be entrusted with backward peoples? Why should not one or other of the Scandinavian countries have a try? They are quite as fitted to bear rule as ourselves. Why not the United States?" Well Clement Attlee, your attitude of disregard towards your former colonies was a really bang-up job of domestic foreign policy (feel free to remove foreign if you wish. I mean, you did rule a global empire prior to the Second World War, did you not?). As you shirked the parenting responsibilities of your colonial offspring in the years following VJ Day, you not only established a precedence for other former imperialistic powers to neglect their own territories, but also created a power vacuum which led to civil war and general "struggles for independence and national identity."
Forgotten Wars, a recently released book reviewed in the August 9th Wall Street Journal, focuses on the deterioration of British rule in Southeast Asia from the end of World War II through 1949. In addition to exploring how the initial English desire to rebuild its global empire in 1945 gave way to general imperialistic disillusionment and Prime Minister Attlee's aforementioned why-can't-other-countries-clean-up-our-mess outlook, the book also takes a look at how British policy across Asia led to the establishment of various conservative dictatorships and military governments that still mar the region today. Thanks Great Britain circa 1945 (and a special shout out to Clement Attlee), we really are still cleaning up your mess present day. I guess maybe you should think a little harder about staying the course in Iraq.
If you want yours then visit our website at www.britishreparations.org and sign the petition to get paid! And make sure to pick up a copy of The Evil Empire: 101 Ways That England Ruined The World, in bookstores and online. Visit www.evilempirebook.com for a sneak preview, press and enhanced features.
About The International Coalition for British Reparations
The International Coalition for British Reparations (ICBR) is a think tank of British foreign policy headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city where America's split with Britain began in 1776. Founded on July 4, 2006, we have members all over the world.
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