As I have written in prevoius comments, I am a bit surprised that this course is only talking about the old British Empire, the one that does not exist anymore.
Talking about old colonies is easy, and it is easy to agree that what our ancestors have done last Century was wrong. I think that on this subject the course material and the comments of the students have been over-critical.
The Empire had an important historical function and was an essential element in creating the world of today (that is not all bad), and British people could still be proud of it.
Empires are an out of date form of international organizations and it is likely that the remnants of them will disappear sooner or later. I would have expected that this course would have been a place for discussion on the colonial issues that are still open. But I see that it has not been the case.
There are a few hotspot where UK is involved in endless bitter discussions that are not really visible to the British public, but that are resented by other people: the Malvinas Islands (or Falklands, if you prefer), and Gibraltar. On these, the UK does not comply with several UN resolutions and British people do not even know.
Talking about old colonies is easy, and it is easy to agree that what our ancestors have done last Century was wrong. I think that on this subject the course material and the comments of the students have been over-critical.
The Empire had an important historical function and was an essential element in creating the world of today (that is not all bad), and British people could still be proud of it.
Empires are an out of date form of international organizations and it is likely that the remnants of them will disappear sooner or later. I would have expected that this course would have been a place for discussion on the colonial issues that are still open. But I see that it has not been the case.
There are a few hotspot where UK is involved in endless bitter discussions that are not really visible to the British public, but that are resented by other people: the Malvinas Islands (or Falklands, if you prefer), and Gibraltar. On these, the UK does not comply with several UN resolutions and British people do not even know.
The real British Empire, the important one and the one that has left a mark in all the peoples of the world, will not disappear. Not even when the UK will lose a few islands in the Southern Ocean, or a rock in the South of Spain. It is the heritage of human rights, liberal principles, English language and European culture that the British Empire has spread all over the world and that we all share and love.
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