Anglosphere

The term "Anglosphere" describes a certain group of English-speaking countries.

The Anglosphere is usually thought of being composed of the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

Bonding qualities

Other than a common language, these nations also share many other common features, most of which come from their shared history of being former colonies of England. The shared features include:

• Democratic, British-inspired political institutions (legislative houses, regular elections, strong executive branch)
• Common Law legal system ("innocent until proven guilty", trial by judge and/or jury, etc)
• Capitalist, free market economies
• Predominantly white population, but with significant groups of immigrant and/or indigenous minorities

The Anglosphere nations also share many other similarities, including high economic prosperity, firmly established civil rights and personal freedoms, and high levels of global cultural influence.

These reasons and others make the Anglosphere different from other English-speaking international groups, notably the Commonwealth of Nations.

Co-operation

Anglosphere nations have a history of co-operation and close political ties. A network of varying military alliances exists between all five nations, and some engage in free trade between themselves.

Because of their similar cultures, the nations share a lot of cultural materials between themselves. Certain actors, directors, movies, books, and TV shows enjoy high levels of popularity across the Anglosphere nations, regardless of their country of origin.

The countries of the Anglosphere were military allies in the majority of major world conflicts in the 20th Century. The United States, the UK, and Australia continued in this vein in their cooperation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a venture in which other close military allies of the United States did not participate in.

External Links

An Anglosphere Primer