Anglosphere Explained

The Anglosphere is the Anglo-American sphere of influence, with a core group of nations that today maintain close political, diplomatic and military co-operation. While the nations included in different sources vary, the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous with the sphere of anglophones, though commonly included nations are those that were formerly part of the British Empire and retained the English language and English Common Law.

The five core countries of the Anglosphere are usually taken to be Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries enjoy close cultural and diplomatic links with one another and are aligned under military and security programmes (Five Eyes).

Definitions and variable geometry

The Anglosphere is the Anglo-American sphere of influence. The term was first coined by the science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his book The Diamond Age, published in 1995. John Lloyd adopted the term in 2000 and defined it as including English-speaking countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the British West Indies. James C. Bennett defines anglosphere as "the English-speaking Common Law-based nations of the world", arguing that former British colonies that retained English common law and the English language have done significantly better than counterparts colonised by other European powers. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the Anglosphere as "the countries of the world in which the English language and cultural values predominate".^[1] However the Anglosphere is usually not considered to include all countries where English is an official language, so it is not synonymous with anglophone.^[2]

Core Anglosphere

The definition is usually taken to include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States^[3] in a grouping of developed countries called the core Anglosphere. The term Anglosphere can also more widely encompass Ireland, Malta and the Commonwealth Caribbean countries.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

The five core countries in the Anglosphere are developed countries that maintain close cultural and diplomatic links with one another. They are aligned under such military and security programmes as:

• ABCANZ Armies
• Air and Space Interoperability Council (air forces)
• AUSCANNZUKUS (navies)
• Border Five
• Combined Communications Electronics Board (communications electronics)
• Five Eyes (intelligence)
• Five Nations Passport Group
• Migration 5
• The Technical Cooperation Program (technology and science)
• The UKUSA Agreement (signals intelligence).

Relations have traditionally been warm between Anglosphere countries, with bilateral partnerships such as those between Australia and New Zealand, the United States and Canada and the United States and the United Kingdom (the Special Relationship) constituting the most successful partnerships in the world.^{[9] [10] [11]}

In terms of political systems, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have Charles III as head of state, form part of the Commonwealth of Nations and use the Westminster parliamentary system of government. Most of the core countries have first-past-the-post electoral systems, though Australia and New Zealand have reformed their systems and there are other systems used in some elections in the UK. As a consequence, most core Anglosphere countries have politics dominated by two major parties.

Below is a table comparing the five core countries of the Anglosphere (data for 2022/2023):

Country	Population	Land area (km^2)^[12]	GDP Nominal (USD bn)^[13]	GDP PPP (USD bn)	GDP PPP per capita (USD)^[14]	National wealth PPP (USD bn)^[15] ^[16]	Military spending PPP (USD bn)
Australia	26,009,249^[17]		1,707		65,366
Canada	38,708,793^[18]		2,089		60,177
New Zealand	5,130,623^[19]		251		54,046
United Kingdom	67,081,234^[20]		3,158		56,471
United States	332,718,707^[21]		26,854		80,035
Core Anglosphere			34,059
... as % of World	5.9%	18.4%	32.3%	20%	3.3×	24.9%	32.9%

Culture and economics

Due to their historic links, the Anglosphere countries share many cultural traits that still persist today. Most countries in the Anglosphere follow the rule of law through common law rather than civil law, and favour democracy with legislative chambers above other political systems.^[22] Private property is protected by law or constitution.^[23]

Market freedom is high in the five core Anglosphere countries, as all five share the Anglo-Saxon economic model  - a capitalist model that emerged in the 1970s based on the Chicago school of economics with origins from the 18th century United Kingdom.^[24] The shared sense of globalisation led cities such as New York, London, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Toronto to have considerable impacts on the international markets and the global economy.^[25] Global popular culture has been highly influenced by the United States and the United Kingdom.

Proponents and critics

Proponents of the Anglosphere concept typically come from the political right (such as Andrew Roberts of the UK Conservative Party), and critics from the centre-left (for example Michael Ignatieff of the Liberal Party of Canada).

Proponents

As early as 1897, Albert Venn Dicey proposed an Anglo-Saxon "intercitizenship" during an address to the Fellows of All Souls at Oxford.^[26] The American businessman James C. Bennett, a proponent of the idea that there is something special about the cultural and legal (common law) traditions of English-speaking nations, writes in his 2004 book The Anglosphere Challenge:

Bennett argues that there are two challenges confronting his concept of the Anglosphere. The first is finding ways to cope with rapid technological advancement and the second is the geopolitical challenges created by what he assumes will be an increasing gap between anglophone prosperity and economic struggles elsewhere.

British historian Andrew Roberts claims that the Anglosphere has been central in the First World War, Second World War and Cold War. He goes on to contend that anglophone unity is necessary for the defeat of Islamism.

According to a 2003 profile in The Guardian, historian Robert Conquest favoured a British withdrawal from the European Union in favour of creating "a much looser association of English-speaking nations, known as the 'Anglosphere.

CANZUK

See main article: CANZUK. Favourability ratings tend to be overwhelmingly positive between countries within a subset of the core Anglosphere known as CANZUK (consisting of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom), whose members form part of the Commonwealth of Nations and retain Charles III as head of state. In the wake of the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) as a result of a referendum held in 2016, there has been mounting political and popular support for a loose free travel and common market area to be formed among the CANZUK countries.^{[27] [28] [29]}

Criticisms

In 2000, Michael Ignatieff wrote in an exchange with Robert Conquest, published by the New York Review of Books, that the term neglects the evolution of fundamental legal and cultural differences between the US and the UK, and the ways in which UK and European norms drew closer together during Britain's membership in the EU through regulatory harmonisation. Of Conquest's view of the Anglosphere, Ignatieff writes: "He seems to believe that Britain should either withdraw from Europe or refuse all further measures of cooperation, which would jeopardize Europe's real achievements. He wants Britain to throw in its lot with a union of English-speaking peoples, and I believe this to be a romantic illusion".

In 2016, Nick Cohen wrote in an article titled "It's a Eurosceptic fantasy that the 'Anglosphere' wants Brexit" for The Spectators Coffee House blog: Anglosphere' is just the right's PC replacement for what we used to call in blunter times 'the white Commonwealth'."^{[30] [31]} He repeated this criticism in another article for The Guardian in 2018.^[32] Similar criticism was presented by other critics such as Canadian academic Srđan Vučetić.^{[33] [34]}

In 2018, amidst the aftermath of the Brexit referendum, two British professors of public policy Michael Kenny and Nick Pearce published a critical scholarly monograph titled Shadows of Empire: The Anglosphere in British Politics . In one of a series of accompanying opinion pieces, they questioned:^[35]

They stated in another article:^[36]

See also

• Anglophile
• Anglo-Americans
• AUKUS
• British diaspora
• Canadian Red Ensign
• Commonwealth realm
  • Commonwealth diaspora
• Dominion
• English-speaking world
• Eurosphere; Francosphere (French), Hispanosphere (Spanish), Lusosphere (Portuguese)
• Five Power Defence Arrangements
• History of the English-Speaking Peoples (Winston Churchill)
• JUSCANZ
• List of countries and territories where English is an official language
• List of countries by English-speaking population
• White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP)

References

Bibliography

• News: Bell. Duncan. 19 January 2017 . The Anglosphere: new enthusiasm for an old dream. Prospect.
• Book: Bellocchio, Luca. Anglosfera. Forma e forza del nuovo Pan-Anglismo. Genova, Il Melangolo. 2006. 978-88-7018-601-7.
• Bennett . James C. . Dreaming Europe in a Wide-Awake World . The National Interest . 2004 . 78 . 119–129 . 42897514 . 0884-9382. .
• Book: Bennett, James C. . 2004 . The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-First Century . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0742533325. .
• Book: Bennett . James C. . The Third Anglosphere Century: The English-Speaking World in an Era of Transition . 2007 . The Heritage Foundation . . en.
• News: Brown . Andrew . 15 February 2003 . Scourge and poet. The Guardian.
• Conquest . Robert . Reply by Ignatieff . Michael . 23 March 2000 . The 'Anglosphere' . The New York Review of Books . 47 . 8 . 2007-07-24.

• Davies . Andrew . Dobell . Graeme . Jennings . Peter . Norgrove . Sarah . Smith . Andrew . Stuart . Nic . White . Hugh . Keep calm and carry on: Reflections on the Anglosphere . 2013 . Australian Strategic Policy Institute. .

• News: Hannan. Daniel. 2 March 2014. The Anglosphere is alive and well, but I wonder whether it needs a better name. The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160407201815/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100261784/the-anglosphere-is-alive-and-well-but-i-wonder-whether-it-needs-a-better-name/. 7 April 2016. dead.
• Kenny. Michael . Pearce. Nick . 2015 . The rise of the Anglosphere: how the right dreamed up a new conservative world order. New Statesman . 2018-05-23.
• Book: Kenny . Michael . Pearce . Nick . 2018 . Shadows of Empire: The Anglosphere in British Politics . Polity . 978-1-509-51660-5.

• Transgovernmental Policy Networks in the Anglosphere. Tim. Legrand. 1 December 2015. Public Administration. 93. 4. 973–991. 10.1111/padm.12198.
• Elite, exclusive and elusive: transgovernmental policy networks and iterative policy transfer in the Anglosphere. Tim. Legrand. 22 June 2016. Policy Studies. 37. 5. 440–455. 10.1080/01442872.2016.1188912. 156577293.
• Lloyd . John . 2000 . The Anglosphere Project . New Statesman . 30 November 2012 . 13 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151213070342/http://www.newstatesman.com/node/193400 . dead .
• City Journal. Shashi. Parulekar . Joel. Kotkin . The State of the Anglosphere. 2012.
• News: Peter. Pomerantsev. The idealistic pull of the 'Anglosphere'. Politico Europe. 2016-07-13.

• News: Explaining the 'Anglosphere'. Glenn. Reynolds. 28 October 2004. The Guardian. 31 July 2018. 4 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190404003426/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/28/uselections2004.usa4. live.
• Book: Roberts, Andrew . Andrew Roberts (historian) . 2006 . A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900 . Weidenfeld & Nicolson . 978-0297850762 . registration .
• Robertson . Peter E. . The Real Military Balance: International Comparisons of Defense Spending . Review of Income and Wealth . 2022 . 68 . 3 . 797–818 . en . 10.1111/roiw.12536 . 1475-4991 . 240601701 . 3 November 2021 . 13 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220513075755/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/roiw.12536 . live .

• Book: Vucetic, Srdjan . 2011 . The Anglosphere: A Genealogy of a Racialized Identity in International Relations . Stanford University Press . 978-0-8047-7224-2.

• Web site: Wellings. Baxendale. Ben. Helen. The power of the Anglosphere in Eurosceptical thought. 10 December 2015. 2 August 2018. 1 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180801010227/http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2015/12/10/anglosphere-is-the-other-side-of-the-eurosceptic-coin-a-conception-of-britains-identity-and-place-in-the-world/. live.
• The Anglosphere in the Brexit Referendum. 10.4000/rfcb.1354. Ben. Wellings. Revue française de civilisation britannique. 2017. 2. XXII. free.

External links

• James C. Bennett (2002) An Anglosphere Primer, presented to the Foreign Policy Research Institute
• BBC Radio 4: Archive on 4 (2017-12-16): Return of the Anglosphere
• From Insularity to Exteriority: How the Anglosphere is Shaping Global Governance – Centre for International Policy Studies

Notes and References

1. Book: Merriam-Webster Staff . 2010 . Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary . Anglosphere . 7 March 2010 . 11 November 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201111200838/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Anglosphere . live .
2. Web site: The Anglosphere and its Others: The 'English-speaking Peoples' in a Changing World Order – British Academy. British Academy. 26 January 2018. 22 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170422231724/https://www.britac.ac.uk/events/anglosphere-and-its-others-english-speaking-peoples-changing-world-order. live.
3. Web site: The Anglosphere: Past, present and future. The British Academy.
4. Web site: The Anglosphere needs to learn to love apartment living . Burn-Murdoch . John . 17 March 2023 . Financial Times . Forty years ago, the UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland had roughly 400 homes per 1,000 residents, level with developed continental European countries. Since then the two groups have diverged, the Anglosphere standing still while western Europe has pulled clear to 560 per 1,000..
5. Web site: The Anglosphere has an advantage on immigration . Burn-Murdoch . John . 25 April 2024 . Financial Times . But a striking pattern emerges when you look at where these different impacts are clustered: almost everything looks better in Anglophone countries. Immigrants and their offspring in the UK, US and so on tend to be more skilled, have better jobs and often out-earn the native-born, while those in continental Europe fare worse. In terms of the fiscal impact, immigrants pay more in than they get out in the US, UK, Australia and Ireland, but are net recipients in Belgium, France, Sweden and the Netherlands..
6. Web site: The State of the Anglosphere . Shashi Parulekar and Joel Kotkin . 2012 . City Journal . Particularly citizens of what some call the Anglosphere: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand..
7. Web site: The Guardian view on languages and the British: Brexit and an Anglosphere prison . Reed . Betsy . 3 November 2017 . The Guardian . an Anglosphere of Britain, Ireland (sometimes), the British Commonwealth and above all the United States..
8. News: Which way is Ireland going?. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/f30b22d0-703f-11e4-bc6a-00144feabdc0 . 10 December 2022 . subscription . live. Financial Times. 21 November 2014. Kuper. Simon.
9. Web site: The Trans-Tasman Relationship: A New Zealand Perspective. 27 December 2017. 21 August 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060821235330/http://www.australianreview.net/journal/v2/n1/goff.pdf. live.
10. Web site: U.S. and Canada: The World's Most Successful Bilateral Relationship. RealClearWorld. 9 March 2016. 27 December 2017. 28 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171228060417/https://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2016/03/09/us_and_canada_the_worlds_most_successful_bilateral_relationship_111753.html. live.
11. Marsh. Steve. 1 June 2012. 'Global Security: US–UK relations': lessons for the special relationship?. Journal of Transatlantic Studies. 10. 2. 182–199. 10.1080/14794012.2012.678119. 145271477.
12. Web site: FAOSTAT . 2021-11-03 . www.fao.org . 12 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161112130804/https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data . live .
13. Web site: Report for Selected Countries and Subjects . 2023-06-28 . IMF . en.
14. Web site: World Economic Outlook Database: October 2021 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211012183649/https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/October . 12 October 2021 . 2021-11-03 . IMF . en.
15. Web site: Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2021. 13 July 2021. 23 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210623101415/https://www.credit-suisse.com/media/assets/corporate/docs/about-us/research/publications/global-wealth-databook-2021.pdf. live.
16. Credit Suisse figures adjusted using IMF WEO Oct 2021 GDP-PPP exchange rates.
17. Web site: Population clock . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191213101231/https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Web+Pages/Population+Clock?opendocument . 13 December 2019 . 22 November 2019 . www.abs.gov.au . Australian Bureau of Statistics.
18. Web site: Government of Canada . Statistics Canada . 11 July 2018 . Canada's population clock (real-time model) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219010134/https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2018005-eng.htm . 19 December 2019 . 18 April 2020 . www150.statcan.gc.ca.
19. Web site: Population clock . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200221084629/http://archive.stats.govt.nz/tools_and_services/population_clock.aspx . 21 February 2020 . 18 April 2020 . archive.stats.govt.nz.
20. Web site: Population estimates for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2020 . 25 June 2021 . www.ons.gov.uk . 25 June 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210625084416/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/mid2020#age-structure-of-the-uk-population . live .
21. Web site: Population Clock . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20151117025617/http://www.census.gov/popclock/ . 17 November 2015 . 18 April 2020 . www.census.gov.
22. Web site: The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency. www.cia.gov. 2019-10-29. 10 May 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130510200259/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/. dead.
23. Book: Building an Americanization Movement for the Twenty-first Century: A Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on New Americans. Michael Chertoff. etal. 2008. 978-0-16-082095-3. Washington D.C.. 29 October 2019. 4 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200704193841/https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Office%20of%20Citizenship/TaskForceonNewAmericansReport.pdf. live.
24. Book: Development models, globalization and economies : a search for the Holy Grail?. Kidd, John B.. Richter, Frank-Jürgen. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. 2006. 978-0230523555. 71339998.
25. Web site: Global Cities Index 2019. A.T. Kearney. 29 October 2019. 20 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220120959/https://www.atkearney.com/global-cities/2019. live.
26. L. Dyer, "Anglo-Saxon Citizenship", The Barrister 3 (1897):107. Cited in Dimitry Kochenov (2019) Citizenship, page 139.
27. Web site: CANZUK, Conservatives and Canada: Marching backward to empire – iPolitics. 24 February 2017. 26 December 2017. 26 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170226002936/https://ipolitics.ca/2017/02/24/canzuk-conservatives-and-canada-marching-backward-to-empire/. live.
28. Web site: UK public strongly backs freedom to live and work in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. 26 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170106035304/https://www.thercs.org/assets/Press-Releases/UK-polling-release-embargoed-13.03.16-1.pdf. 6 January 2017. dead.
29. Web site: Survey Reveals Support For CANZUK Free Movement. CANZUK International. 26 December 2017. 22 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171222104947/http://www.canzukinternational.com/2017/04/significant-support-for-canzuk-free.html. live.
30. Web site: Nick. Cohen. It's a Eurosceptic fantasy that the 'Anglosphere' wants Brexit - Coffee House. 12 April 2016. 3 September 2018. 28 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190228110613/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/04/its-a-eurosceptic-fantasy-that-the-anglosphere-wants-brexit/. live.
31. News: The Guardian view on the EU debate: it's about much more than migration | Editorial. The Guardian. 1 June 2016. www.theguardian.com. 26 May 2020. 26 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200726033459/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/01/the-guardian-view-on-the-eu-debate-its-about-much-more-than-migration. live.
32. News: Brexit Britain is out of options. Our humiliation is painful to watch - Nick Cohen. Nick. Cohen. 14 July 2018. The Guardian. 27 January 2019. 15 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215213128/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/14/brexit-britain-out-of-options-humiliation-painful. live.
33. Web site: Srdjan. Vucetic. CANZUK, Conservatives and Canada: Marching backward to empire - iPolitics. 24 February 2017. 26 December 2017. 26 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170226002936/https://ipolitics.ca/2017/02/24/canzuk-conservatives-and-canada-marching-backward-to-empire/. live.
34. Web site: Srdjan. Vucetic. Canada and the Anglo World – where do we stand?. OpenCanada. 26 April 2016. 3 September 2018. 4 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180904011311/https://www.opencanada.org/features/canada-and-anglo-world-where-do-we-stand/. live.
35. News: Opinion – Britain, Time to Let Go of the 'Anglosphere'. The New York Times. 2018-07-13. Kenny. Michael. Pearce. Nick. 30 July 2018. 31 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180731000250/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/opinion/donald-trump-uk-visit-anglosphere-brexit.html. live.
36. Web site: Kenny. Michael. Pearce. Nick. In the shadows of empire: how the Anglosphere dream lives on – UK in a changing Europe. 11 May 2018. 30 July 2018. 14 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180514084659/http://ukandeu.ac.uk/in-the-shadows-of-empire-how-the-anglosphere-dream-lives-on/. live.