> I can remember arguing, with others, that the return of the
> recession in the 1980s would lead to a re-conquest of the world on > the
Lenin model, but I was wrong. Maybe something of that sentiment > was
abroad in the talk of civilising missions and such-like, but
> our contemporary elites lack the inner certainty of those British
> District Officers from the Colonial Office who lorded it over the
> natives without cutting and running like Donald Rumsfeld.
Is it that, or is it that our semi-democracy acts as a check on foreign adventures (if they cause too many US casulties, that is)?
Doug
^^^^^^ CB: Also, the "Third World" of the Cold War was better able to defend itself militarily, as they were bulwarked by the socialist bloc, as contrasted with the world which was Britain's oyster.