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The UK is really struggling with being a small country again, what leverage do they have with their 3.1% of global GDP?
by bhewes 3y ago
The UK is really struggling with being a small country again, what leverage do they have with their 3.1% of global GDP?
- ben_w 3y agoThe standard list from people who want to big it up: being the 5th largest economy, Trident, the permanent seat on the UN, and the commonwealth. And if you point out how small "5th largest economy" is, or that last time trident missiles (which aren't even British) got in the news was them going the wrong way when test-fired, or that the UN criticism of the UK (Assange and Austerity come to mind) is so important that it has resulted in zero changes, or that the commonwealth isn't very influential or powerful and that's why the UK needed to join the EU… …they don't take it well.
- toyg 3y agoThe Commonwealth is not just "not very influential" or "not very powerful" - it's a dying institution in which the British Government is not even the de-facto leader anymore. Nobody wants to host the Commonwealth Games, the trickle of countries leaving the Crown continues unabated, the UK government loses all internal conflicts, and any old trade link has been left in the dust by Chinese, American, and European, activity in trade agreements. The Commonwealth barely even exists, at this point.