I disagree with the assertion that the UK has been an empire of any kind since roughly the end of World War II. I agree in part with the article's core assertio

I disagree with the assertion that the UK has been an empire of any kind since roughly the end of World War II. I agree in part with the article's core assertion, that the UK's days as a major influence on the global political and financial stages are now over. However, I think this has been a gradual process. I think it has to do less with an internal dissolution of British society's pillars (though I think that is happening), and more with a lack of understanding of just what kind of weight Britain has to throw around. Put simply: Britain is not as important as it thinks it is, and the EU is much more important than people think it is. Britain needs the EU more than the EU needs it. That's not an easy thing to accept. Who among us wants to be told "you don't matter like you think you do?" Imagine an American's reaction to being told that. But it's a lesson the UK needs to learn, and fast, if it's to keep its economy and quality of life.