Monday, February 24, 2020

Is India a member of the Anglosphere?




The Anglosphere is an informal interest group that goes way back, back as far as WWI, perhaps further.  Originally the Anglosphere was Great Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.  All English speaking British colonies or former colonies.  There is no treaty creating the Anglosphere.  As one might imagine, Great Britain and the United States are the biggest and strongest members, but the Anglosphere takes care not to trample on the smaller members.  Much of this is arranged in informal settings.  Since all the members share culture and history, they all tend to think alike and that makes for smooth and easy negotiations.
The Anglosphere fought WWII; they crushed the Nazis (with a lot of help from the Soviets) and set up the post war world.  The Anglosphere leaned pretty hard on the Soviets to keep them in line and contain communism.  They fought several small wars, Korea, Viet Nam, and Singapore. 
   Tonight I am watching the Indians putting on a show for President Trump’s visit.  They are doing it right.  The red carpet leading out of Air Force One has a band and dancers, all wearing colorful native garb, and belting out the tunes.  A fleet of shiny black SUVs and limousines.  I wonder if they are manufactured in India.  India has a decent sized auto industry. I could see the maker’s badge on the grilles but I didn’t recognize it.  It wasn’t a Caddy badge.  Indian Prime Minister Modi was on hand.  They did a motorcade, heading for either the Taj Mahal or Gandhi’s place, both were mentioned.  The streets were lined with cheering Indians.  Clearly a warm and enthusiastic for President Trump. 
   Can we admit India to the Anglosphere?  The British ran the place for a couple of hundred years and did a lot of Anglicization during that time.  We certainly have more in common with, and good feelings about, India than we do toward China or Russia.  Since the Anglosphere is informal, we would have to watch and see what happens.  If India supports the Anglosphere, and the other members talk with the Indians and gain their support before doing things then India is a working member.  Which would be good, India is an important country.  Indian science and industry are strong enough to launch a Mars orbiter.  India is a big place both in land area and population.  Many Indians speak English.  They have a lot of good engineers, many of whom work in US firms.  They have a fine national cuisine. 

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