My (prejudiced) experience is that British writers will tell you different things depending on which side of the fence they're sitting on. To one side the hack will tell you, politely, '...well, old man, you only had to ask.' Meanwhile, on the other side, the more intellectual (and chagrined) journalist will be cautioning, '...don't do it you fool.'
Too late of course from both sides.
Power comes in different forms and where it involved Empire is usually balanced by a sense of responsibility. Fortunately, Britain no longer has an empire (just a fiendly association of former subjugates that run their own club), and yet does have certain privilaged positions (such as sitting on the UN security council).
Of course, Britain had what might be termed an official empire - openly declared - and though she often got things wrong, she also had a good go at getting it right and still feels the need to do so.
Compare that to a country that claims no official empire yet goes all out to protect it when a part is threatened and still makes moves to add to it when the need or the situation arises. Responsibility? What's that?
Simon
----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Doss" <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 10:20 AM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Volga roadtrip
>
> --- John Adams <jadams01 at sprynet.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hey, they always told me "Write what you know". It's
>> good to see other
>> writers take it to heart.
>>
>
> I have a long-standing theory, corroborated by
> nothing, that the subtext of a lot of British writing
> on Russia is the collapse of the British Empire. It's
> like they're upset that post-Soviet Russia is still a
> major power, and post-Imperial Britain, well, isn't. :)
>
>
>
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