The Anglosphere…Or Not

So I ran across an interesting term a year or so back, “The Anglosphere.” What this is, basically, is the English-speaking nations of the world considered as a single social, economic, and political grouping—i.e., Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.

Why I find the Anglosphere interesting politically is that at least some people are offering it as an alternative to the European Union, as well as other international organizations. The idea is that we…that is, English speakers of a common heritage …are much more likely to get along with one another than we are, say, with the Greeks, the French, the Turks, and so on.

Truth be told, it is an appealing image: a powerful, compact, well-integrated union of related nations, standing tall and proud against the rest of the world (and particularly Russia and China), speaking English as a potent lingua franca, sharing ideals of fair play and free enterprise, and, minding our own business—meaning we avoid wars in places where we’re not wanted, and where we have no real interests. (If, for instance, we’re not importing oil form the Middle East any more, what exactly are we there for?)

And, maybe, the Anglosphere will happen if we like it or not. After all, Brexit seems to be taking England (if not, necessarily, Scotland) out of the EU, and Trump and his Wall look like a large scale rejection of Latin America by the United States.

Yet, if it does happen, I wonder if the Anglosphere’s most ardent partisans will really be happy.

For instance, if you are going to define your commonality according to language, then you have to ask if large chunks of the former British Commonwealth aren’t also open to consideration. And, if you’re looking for youthful, growing economies…and nations which might have the vitality to stand up to China…

Doesn’t that mean that you really, really have to take a look at places like India, South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya?

If an Anglosphere were to succeed, and if it really could stand up to China and its ever more dominant place in the world, wouldn’t we actually be talking about a Hindi-Anglosphere? Or a Anglo-Hindisphere? And won’t we be including in its reach everyone from Maasai to Zulu?

My point is that an Anglosphere, if it were to really work, would be more, not less diverse than the systems we have in place now.

Which is why I wonder…have Trump’s supporters, in all their shining whiteness, really thought that through?