Information Related to "America and the Decline of the British Empire: A Comparison"
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What lessons does this hold for America in terms of the British decline experience?
The accompanying article points out that the American nation is largely descended from one of the sons of the biblical patriarch Joseph, Manasseh. But Joseph had a second son, Ephraim, whose descendants spread the British Empire around the world (again, see our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy ).
Notice these remarkable words from Newsweek International 'seditor Fareed Zakaria about the role of the once-great British Empire: "In fact, Britain has arguably been the most successful exporter of its culture in human history. Before the American dream, there was an 'English way of life'-one that was watched, admired and copied throughout the world. And also thanks to the British Empire, English spread as a global language, spoken from the Caribbean to Cape Town to Calcutta" ("The Future of American Power," Foreign Affairs, May-June 2008, p. 20).
This year marks the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, 60 years on the British throne. It is a far cry from June 22, 1897, which marked Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee-when one fourth of humanity around the globe, 400 million people, celebrated a holiday to mark the occasion throughout the world in an empire "on which the sun never set."
At the time, many believed the British Empire would last forever. It did not.
Bled dry economically by two enormously costly world wars in the first half of the 20th century, Britain had little choice but to gradually surrender its empire without a fight.
What lessons does this hold for America in terms of the British experience? Zakaria further stated, "No analogy is exact, but the British Empire in its heyday is the closest any nation in the modern age has come to the United States' position today."
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