Article

2019-12-10 Britain

The Future of the United Kingdom - Peter Zeihan

[Zeihan on Geo-Politics] I’m not going to more than obliquely address the UK elections coming this Thursday (December 12). Polls at this time point to a strong Conservative showing, largely because British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is a sexist, anti-Semitic, anti-Western, authoritarian, unrepentant Stalinesque bigot whose main message to lifelong Labor members is “vote for me because I’m not a Conservative.” Not exactly a winning program, and that’s before you take a look at his economic proposals. Corbyn is also personally for Brexit even if his party is semi-officially opposed.

I’m far more concerned with what will happen in the United Kingdom in the weeks and months to follow. Barring some truly impressive political gymnastics, the UK’s divorce from the European Union has been baked in for some time. And while it has been dizzily entertaining to watch British politics contort in its attempt to alternatively operationalize or deny that basic fact, this particular chapter is almost over and Brexit is about to happen.

As seems to be the case with me these days, looking forward first requires a look back.

Only a century ago, the British Royal Navy was the greatest the world had yet seen. The Brits used that incredible navy and their capable (if small) contingent of land forces to maintain an empire where the sun never set. That isn’t a metaphor, but instead quite literal.

But the ravages of the World Wars shattered the world’s navies and shattered right along with them the British Empire. The British were so desperate at times for war materiel that they signed away to the Americans the rights to many of the bases that made their empire.

What did they get in exchange? Fifty destroyers that were far shy of substandard when they had been built a quarter-century previous, along with a fistful of loans on terms that could best be described as usurious. This was Lend-Lease, the policy discussed in American history textbooks as a gesture of “goodwill.” The near-eradication of British power from the Western Hemisphere and the welding of British fortunes to American strategic desires was the first step in the creation of the American-led international system. Britain didn’t claw its way out from under the debts until the 2000s, and it still hasn’t gotten most of its bases back.

Posted by DarthVader 2019-12-10 09:43|| || Front Page|| [11 views ] Top

#1 Damn. This reads about right.

Posted by Secret Master 2019-12-10 13:49|| 2019-12-10 13:49|| Front Page Top

#2 Moved to Britain.

Posted by trailing wife 2019-12-10 14:25|| 2019-12-10 14:25|| Front Page Top

#3 They paid back Lend Lease?

Posted by BrerRabbit 2019-12-10 16:54|| 2019-12-10 16:54|| Front Page Top

#4 Made the final payment a few years back.

Posted by Herb McCoy 2019-12-10 17:04|| 2019-12-10 17:04|| Front Page Top

#5 They paid back Lend Lease?

At 2% interest over 50+ years. Inflation paid for the bulk of Lend Lease. A lot of the equipment was sold to the Brits at 10% of cost (scrap rates). They elected to keep the equipment instead of returning it (at no cost) at the end of the war.

Posted by Snusotle the Lesser4227 2019-12-10 18:07|| 2019-12-10 18:07|| Front Page Top

#6 Who's this person describing a 2% p.a. 50-year lease as "usurious"?

The NPV for the ships bought under Lend-Lease was hugely positive for Britain and equally negative for the US.

Posted by Lex 2019-12-10 18:17|| 2019-12-10 18:17|| Front Page Top

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