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Anglosphere

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This article is about group of English-speaking nations with close political and military ties and their sphere of influence. For usage of English worldwide, seeEnglish-speaking world.

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Anglosphere_Geometry.svg
The Anglosphere, according to James Bennett (The Anglosphere Challenge)[1]
Core Anglosphere
Middle Anglosphere (states where English is one of several official languages, but not necessarily widely spoken by the native population)
Outer sphere (English-using states of other civilisations)
Periphery (states where English is widely used but is not an official governmental language)

TheAnglosphereis the Anglo-Americansphere of influence,with a core group of nations that today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries whereEnglishis an official language, so it is not synonymous with the sphere ofanglophones,though commonly included nations are those that were formerly part of the British Empire and retained the English language and EnglishCommon Law.

The five core countries of the Anglosphere are usually taken to beAustralia,Canada,New Zealand,theUnited Kingdom,and theUnited States.These countries enjoy close cultural and diplomatic links with one another and are aligned under military and security programmes (Five Eyes).

Definitions and variable geometry[edit]

The Anglosphere is the Anglo-American sphere of influence.[a]The term was first coined by the science fiction writerNeal Stephensonin his bookThe Diamond Age,published in 1995.John Lloydadopted the term in 2000 and defined it as including English-speaking countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland,South Africa,and theBritish West Indies.[3]James C. Bennettdefinesanglosphereas "the English-speaking Common Law-based nations of the world",[4]arguing that former British colonies that retained English common law and the English language have done significantly better than counterparts colonised by other European powers.[5]TheMerriam-Websterdictionary defines the Anglosphere as "the countries of the world in which the English language and cultural values predominate".[6][b]However the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous withanglophone.[7][better source needed]

Core Anglosphere[edit]

The definition is usually taken to include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States[8]in a grouping ofdeveloped countriescalled thecore Anglosphere.The term Anglosphere can also more widely encompassIreland,Maltaand theCommonwealth Caribbeancountries.[9][10][11][12][13][3][excessive citations]

The five core countries in the Anglosphere aredeveloped countriesthat maintain close cultural and diplomatic links with one another. They are aligned under such military and security programmes as:[14][3][15][16]

Relations have traditionally been warm between Anglosphere countries, with bilateral partnerships such as those betweenAustralia and New Zealand,the United States and Canadaandthe United States and the United Kingdom(theSpecial Relationship) constituting the most successful partnerships in the world.[17][18][19]

In terms of political systems, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom haveCharles IIIashead of state,form part of theCommonwealth of Nationsand use theWestminster parliamentary systemof government. Most of the core countries havefirst-past-the-postelectoral systems, thoughAustraliaandNew Zealandhave reformed their systems and there are other systems used in someelections in the UK.As a consequence, most core Anglosphere countries have politicsdominated by two major parties.

Below is a table comparing the five core countries of the Anglosphere (data for 2022/2023):

Country Population Land area
(km2)[20] 		GDP Nominal
(USD bn)[21] 		GDP PPP
(USD bn)[21] 		GDP PPP per capita
(USD)[22] 		National wealth PPP (USD bn)[23][22][24] Military spending PPP
(USD bn)[25]
Australia 26,009,249[26] 7,692,020 1,707 1,718 65,366 7,661 22.0
Canada 38,708,793[27] 9,984,670 2,089 2,385 60,177 9,971 23.3
New Zealand 5,130,623[28] 262,443 251 278 54,046 1,229 3.1
United Kingdom 67,081,234[29] 241,930 3,158 3,846 56,471 16,208 70.2
United States 332,718,707[30] 9,833,520 26,854 26,854 80,035 114,932 734.3
Core Anglosphere 469,648,606 27,329,350 34,059 28,115 65,700 150,001 852.9
... as % of World 5.9% 18.4% 32.3% 20% 3.3× 24.9% 32.9%

Culture and economics[edit]

Due to their historic links, the Anglosphere countries share many cultural traits that still persist today. Most countries in the Anglosphere follow therule of lawthroughcommon lawrather thancivil law,and favourdemocracywithlegislative chambersabove other political systems.[31]Private property is protected by law or constitution.[32][better source needed]

Market freedomis high in the five core Anglosphere countries, as all five share theAnglo-Saxon economic model– acapitalistmodel that emerged in the 1970s based on theChicago school of economicswith origins from the 18th century United Kingdom.[33]The shared sense ofglobalisationled cities such asNew York,London,Los Angeles,Sydney,andTorontoto have considerable impacts on thefinancial marketsand theglobal economy.[34]Globalpopular culturehas been highly influenced by theUnited Statesand theUnited Kingdom.[32][better source needed]

Proponents and critics[edit]

Proponents of the Anglosphere concept typically come from thepolitical right(such asAndrew Robertsof theUK Conservative Party), and critics from thecentre-left(for exampleMichael Ignatieffof theLiberal Party of Canada).

Proponents[edit]

As early as 1897,Albert Venn Diceyproposed an Anglo-Saxon "intercitizenship" during an address to the Fellows ofAll Soulsat Oxford.[35]

Further information:19th-century Anglo-Saxonism

The American businessmanJames C. Bennett,[36]a proponent of the idea that there is something special about the cultural and legal (common law) traditions of English-speaking nations, writes in his 2004 bookThe Anglosphere Challenge:

The Anglosphere, as a network civilization without a corresponding political form, has necessarily imprecise boundaries. Geographically, the densest nodes of the Anglosphere are found in the United States and the United Kingdom. English-speaking Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and English-speaking South Africa (who constitute a very small minority in that country) are also significant populations. The English-speaking Caribbean, English-speakingOceaniaand the English-speaking educated populations in Africa and India constitute other important nodes.[14]

Bennett argues that there are two challenges confronting his concept of the Anglosphere. The first is finding ways to cope with rapid technological advancement and the second is the geopolitical challenges created by what he assumes will be an increasing gap between anglophone prosperity and economic struggles elsewhere.[37]

British historianAndrew Robertsclaims that the Anglosphere has been central in theFirst World War,Second World WarandCold War.He goes on to contend that anglophone unity is necessary for the defeat ofIslamism.[38]

According to a 2003 profile inThe Guardian,historianRobert Conquestfavoured aBritish withdrawalfrom theEuropean Unionin favour of creating "a much looser association of English-speaking nations, known as the 'Anglosphere'".[39][40]

CANZUK[edit]

Main article:CANZUK

Favourability ratings tend to be overwhelmingly positive between countries within a subset of the core Anglosphere known asCANZUK(consisting of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom),[according to whom?]whose members form part of theCommonwealth of Nationsand retain Charles III as head of state. In the wake of theUnited Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union(Brexit) as a result of areferendum held in 2016,there has been mounting political and popular support for a loose free travel and common market area to be formed among the CANZUK countries.[41][42][43]

Criticisms[edit]

In 2000,Michael Ignatieffwrote in an exchange withRobert Conquest,published by theNew York Review of Books,that the term neglects the evolution of fundamental legal and cultural differences between the US and the UK, and the ways in which UK and European norms drew closer together during Britain's membership in the EU throughregulatory harmonisation.Of Conquest's view of the Anglosphere, Ignatieff writes: "He seems to believe that Britain should eitherwithdraw from Europeor refuse all further measures of cooperation, which would jeopardize Europe's real achievements. He wants Britain to throw in its lot with a union of English-speaking peoples, and I believe this to be a romantic illusion ".[44]

In 2016,Nick Cohenwrote in an article titled "It's a Eurosceptic fantasy that the 'Anglosphere' wants Brexit" forThe Spectator's Coffee House blog:"'Anglosphere' is just the right'sPCreplacement for what we used to call in blunter times 'thewhite Commonwealth'. "[45][46]He repeated this criticism in another article forThe Guardianin 2018.[47]Similar criticism was presented by other critics such as Canadian academic Srđan Vučetić.[48][49]

In 2018, amidst the aftermath of theBrexit referendum,two British professors of public policyMichael Kennyand Nick Pearce published a critical scholarly monograph titledShadows of Empire: The Anglosphere in British Politics(ISBN978-1509516612). In one of a series of accompanying opinion pieces, they questioned:[50]

The tragedy of the different national orientations that have emerged in British politics after empire—whether pro-European, Anglo-American, Anglospheric or some combination of these—is that none of them has yet been the compelling, coherent and popular answer to the country's most important question: How should Britain find its way in the wider, modern world?

They stated in another article:[51]

Meanwhile, the other core English-speaking countries to which the Anglosphere refers, show no serious inclination to join the UK in forging new political and economic alliances. They will, most likely, continue to work within existing regional and international institutions and remain indifferent to – or simply perplexed by – calls for some kind of formalised Anglosphere alliance.

Opinion polls[edit]

A 2020 poll byYouGovrevealed that Australia was the most positively viewed country by Americans outside of the United States, followed by Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand.[52]Another 2020 poll by YouGov showed that New Zealand, Canada and Australia were the most positively viewed countries by British people, and more favourably viewed by British people than the United Kingdom itself, with the United States ranking 34th.[53]

A 2023 poll by theLowy Institutesimilarly indicated that New Zealand was the country most positively viewed by Australians, with Canada ranking second, the UK third and the United States twelfth.[54]A 2020 poll by theMacdonald–Laurier Institutesuggested that Australia was the most positively viewed country by Canadians.[55]In a 2019Pew Research Centerpoll, a plurality of Canadians and Australians named the United States as their country's closest ally.[56]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^"The Anglosphere – shorthand for the Anglo-American sphere of influence – established the concept and structure of the modern transnational community.... The Anglosphere (in the narrow sense of the former British Empire, including Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the US) has been the architect and a staunch proponent of international norms."[2]
  2. ^"The group of countries whereEnglishis the main native language. "(Shorter Oxford English Dictionary(6th ed.), Oxford University Press, 2007,ISBN978-0-19-920687-2 ).

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^Browning, Christopher S. and Tonra, Ben (2010) "Beyond the West and towards the Anglosphere?" In: Browning, Christopher S. and Lehti, Marko, (eds.)The struggle for the West: a divided and contested legacy.Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York: Routledge, pp. 161–181.ISBN9780415476836:https:// academia.edu/341929/Beyond_the_West_and_Towards_the_AnglosphereArchived3 January 2023 at theWayback Machine
  2. ^Davies et al. 2013.
  3. ^abcLloyd 2000.
  4. ^Bennett, 2004b,pp. 3, 67.
  5. ^Bennett 2007,pp. 42–43.
  6. ^Merriam-Webster Staff (2010). "Anglosphere".Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2020.Retrieved7 March2010.
  7. ^"The Anglosphere and its Others: The 'English-speaking Peoples' in a Changing World Order – British Academy".British Academy.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2017.Retrieved26 January2018.
  8. ^"The Anglosphere: Past, present and future".The British Academy.
  9. ^Burn-Murdoch, John (17 March 2023)."The Anglosphere needs to learn to love apartment living".Financial Times.Forty years ago, the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland had roughly 400 homes per 1,000 residents, level with developed continental European countries. Since then the two groups have diverged, the Anglosphere standing still while western Europe has pulled clear to 560 per 1,000.
  10. ^Burn-Murdoch, John (25 April 2024)."The Anglosphere has an advantage on immigration".Financial Times.But a striking pattern emerges when you look at where these different impacts are clustered: almost everything looks better in Anglophone countries. Immigrants and their offspring in the UK, US and so on tend to be more skilled, have better jobs and often out-earn the native-born, while those in continental Europe fare worse. In terms of the fiscal impact, immigrants pay more in than they get out in the US, UK, Australia and Ireland, but are net recipients in Belgium, France, Sweden and the Netherlands.
  11. ^Shashi Parulekar and Joel Kotkin (2012)."The State of the Anglosphere".City Journal.Particularly citizens of what some call the Anglosphere: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
  12. ^Reed, Betsy (3 November 2017)."The Guardian view on languages and the British: Brexit and an Anglosphere prison".The Guardian.an Anglosphere of Britain, Ireland (sometimes), the British Commonwealth and above all the United States.
  13. ^Kuper, Simon (21 November 2014)."Which way is Ireland going?".Financial Times.Archivedfrom the original on 10 December 2022.
  14. ^abBennett, 2004b,p. 80.
  15. ^Legrand 2015.
  16. ^Legrand 2016.
  17. ^"The Trans-Tasman Relationship: A New Zealand Perspective"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 21 August 2006.Retrieved27 December2017.
  18. ^"U.S. and Canada: The World's Most Successful Bilateral Relationship".RealClearWorld.9 March 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 28 December 2017.Retrieved27 December2017.
  19. ^Marsh, Steve (1 June 2012). "'Global Security: US–UK relations': lessons for the special relationship? ".Journal of Transatlantic Studies.10(2): 182–199.doi:10.1080/14794012.2012.678119.S2CID145271477.
  20. ^"FAOSTAT".fao.org.Archivedfrom the original on 12 November 2016.Retrieved3 November2021.
  21. ^ab"Report for Selected Countries and Subjects".IMF.Retrieved28 June2023.
  22. ^ab"World Economic Outlook Database: October 2021".IMF.Archivedfrom the original on 12 October 2021.Retrieved3 November2021.
  23. ^"Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2021"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 23 June 2021.Retrieved13 July2021.
  24. ^Credit Suisse figures adjusted using IMF WEO Oct 2021 GDP-PPP exchange rates.
  25. ^Robertson 2022.
  26. ^"Population clock".abs.gov.au.Australian Bureau of Statistics.Archivedfrom the original on 13 December 2019.Retrieved22 November2019.
  27. ^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (11 July 2018)."Canada's population clock (real-time model)".www150.statcan.gc.ca.Archivedfrom the original on 19 December 2019.Retrieved18 April2020.
  28. ^"Population clock".archive.stats.govt.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 21 February 2020.Retrieved18 April2020.
  29. ^"Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2020".ons.gov.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 25 June 2021.Retrieved25 June2021.
  30. ^"Population Clock".census.gov.Archivedfrom the original on 17 November 2015.Retrieved18 April2020.
  31. ^"The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency".cia.gov.Archived fromthe originalon 10 May 2013.Retrieved29 October2019.
  32. ^abMichael Chertoff; et al. (2008).Building an Americanization Movement for the Twenty-first Century: A Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on New Americans(PDF).Washington D.C.ISBN978-0-16-082095-3.Archived(PDF)from the original on 4 July 2020.Retrieved29 October2019.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  33. ^Kidd, John B.; Richter, Frank-Jürgen (2006).Development models, globalization and economies: a search for the Holy Grail?.Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-0230523555.OCLC71339998.
  34. ^"Global Cities Index 2019".A.T. Kearney.Archivedfrom the original on 20 December 2019.Retrieved29 October2019.
  35. ^L. Dyer, "Anglo-Saxon Citizenship",The Barrister3 (1897):107. Cited in Dimitry Kochenov (2019)CitizenshipISBN9780262537797,page 139.
  36. ^Reynolds 2004.
  37. ^Bennett, 2004b[page needed]
  38. ^Roberts 2006[page needed]
  39. ^Brown 2003.
  40. ^Wellings & Baxendale 2015.
  41. ^"CANZUK, Conservatives and Canada: Marching backward to empire – iPolitics".24 February 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 26 February 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  42. ^"UK public strongly backs freedom to live and work in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 6 January 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  43. ^"Survey Reveals Support For CANZUK Free Movement".CANZUK International.Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  44. ^Conquest & Reply by Ignatieff 2000.
  45. ^Cohen, Nick (12 April 2016)."It's a Eurosceptic fantasy that the 'Anglosphere' wants Brexit - Coffee House".Archivedfrom the original on 28 February 2019.Retrieved3 September2018.
  46. ^"The Guardian view on the EU debate: it's about much more than migration | Editorial".The Guardian.1 June 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 26 July 2020.Retrieved26 May2020– via theguardian.
  47. ^Cohen, Nick (14 July 2018)."Brexit Britain is out of options. Our humiliation is painful to watch - Nick Cohen".The Guardian.Archivedfrom the original on 15 December 2018.Retrieved27 January2019.
  48. ^Vucetic, Srdjan (24 February 2017)."CANZUK, Conservatives and Canada: Marching backward to empire - iPolitics".Archivedfrom the original on 26 February 2017.Retrieved26 December2017.
  49. ^Vucetic, Srdjan (26 April 2016)."Canada and the Anglo World – where do we stand?".OpenCanada.Archivedfrom the original on 4 September 2018.Retrieved3 September2018.
  50. ^Kenny, Michael; Pearce, Nick (13 July 2018)."Opinion – Britain, Time to Let Go of the 'Anglosphere'".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 31 July 2018.Retrieved30 July2018.
  51. ^Kenny, Michael; Pearce, Nick (11 May 2018)."In the shadows of empire: how the Anglosphere dream lives on – UK in a changing Europe".Archivedfrom the original on 14 May 2018.Retrieved30 July2018.
  52. ^"What countries do Americans like most? | YouGov".today.yougov.Archivedfrom the original on 15 May 2021.Retrieved4 May2021.
  53. ^"New Zealand is Britons' favourite country | YouGov".yougov.co.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 5 December 2021.Retrieved4 May2021.
  54. ^"Poll".Lowy Institute. 2023.
  55. ^"Canada's Role in the World – Part One: A Macdonald-Laurier Institute poll (November 2020)"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 25 January 2021.Retrieved4 May2021.
  56. ^"Countries where the U.S. is seen as top ally".Pew Research.Archivedfrom the original on 13 June 2021.Retrieved16 June2021.

Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

Look upAnglospherein Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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