The Search for Liberal Anglo-America 1

At first centered on the British empire and later on the American imperium, Anglo-America has dominated the world for the past two hundred years, perhaps more. ² Winston Churchill, the man who in so many ways epitomizes this elastic, loosely bounded, and semi-institutionalized community of societies, states, and nations, preferred the term “English-speaking peoples.” What made them so superior in the global society, he argued, was their fierce and unwavering commitment to freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. If we learn anything from Churchill’s multi-volume History of the English-speaking Peoples, it is that its eponymous protagonists gained power by thinking and acting like good liberals. From their birth on the periphery of Caesar’s map to their triumph in the era of empires, the English-speaking peoples worked hard to develop a political system that protected individuals and rewarded cooperation and “conciliation.” ³