The U.K. Becoming More Isolated

The U.K. Stood Up to The Blitz, What Happened Since Then?

Michael Portillo, a former conservative in the House of Commons, writes about British inaction during the recent crisis in Georgia. He doesn't call for some sort of aggressive military intervention, but he does find the lack of even a diplomatic voice from Britain a bit disturbing. After dissecting that Iraq was a bit of a blunder for the Blair doctrine in the British mind, Portillo laments:

Is it too much to hope that Britain can again find a role in foreign affairs of the scale achieved by Thatcher and Blair?

While British imperialism in the 19th century (particularly in India and South Africa) was rife with human rights abuses, our friends across the pond bravely fought against world-wide tyranny during WWII. English culture provided the world with everything from Shakespeare to Iron Maiden, and Locke and Hobbes are often considered the architects for modern Western democracy. The fact that the international language is derived from an island way the hell up in the north Atlantic should say something about the importance of England shaping our world. We'd be missing out on a lot if Britain chose to isolate itself and live in a watered-down world of nanny-state totalitarianism where culture is squashed because it might offend someone.