British Empire

Barbados Has Thrown Off Its Colonial Shackles

December 17, 2021 Kareem Smith, Progressive International. Create! Barbados, British Empire, colonization, Liberation

The island was so central to Britain’s transatlantic slave trade system it was commonly referred to as ‘Little England’. Today, Barbados marks a defining break from 400 years of British rule. While there are still many challenges in overhauling all structures of governance inherited by the colonial system, Barbadians should be proud of this moment. Barbados has completed its transition to a republican system of government. From 30 November, which marks the 55th anniversary of its independence from Britain, Barbados’s head of state is no longer the British Queen. The word ‘royal’ will be removed from the names of its institutions, which will no longer bear the insignia of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In her place, the tiny Caribbean island has its first elected president, Dame Sandra Mason, who represents the Barbadian struggle for self-determination and whose term won’t last a lifetime.

The Blood Never Dries

August 29, 2021 Richard Gott, Red Pepper. Educate! Britain, British Empire, Genocide, Imperialism

Twenty years ago, when Tony Blair tried to restore something of the old militarism of empire, invading Afghanistan and Iraq with little understanding of what had once happened there, he did so with the words and music of ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ echoing through his speeches. In like manner, the work of Niall Ferguson (Empire: How Britain made the Modern World, 2004) sought to revive the old imperial dream, and, for a moment, it seemed as though what was called ‘humanitarian intervention’ was going to usher in a new imperial era. Other distinguished historians were there to provide support: Lawrence Friedman, Andrew Roberts, Max Hastings – quite a cohort of armchair imperialists enjoyed a spring offensive.

American Suez?: The Costs Of Bombing Iran

March 27, 2020 Maj. Danny Sjursen USA (ret.), Popular Resistance. Educate! British Empire, COVID-19, Suez Canal, US Empire

Decaying empires behave badly. Late-stage imperial states easily fall prey to perilous insecurity and irrationality, and tend to lash out like wounded, cornered animals. Perhaps it must be so: naught but a collective macro-reflection of the human condition. Unfortunately, many thousands - often millions - of innocents tend to die at the denouement of empire. "Dirty wars" usually ensue during the imperial endgame. That time is near, it seems, for the American hegemon. There’s hardly “dirtier,” or nastier, proof of “bad behavior” than recent reports that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (unsuccessfully, thus far) urged President Trump to use this pandemic opportunity to bomb Iran; or of the administration’s persistent devotion to lethal “maximum pressure" sanctions certain to multiply the Corona-mortality of innocents.

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