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War is a continuation of politics by other means, and
politics is concentrated economics. That is why the history of British military
attacks on other countries is long and bloody. In recent years, under Prime
Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007) the UK bombed, attacked or invaded Yugoslavia,
Iraq (twice), Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. Gordon Brown continued the policy,
as did David Cameron, whose government added Libya. But a new book by Stuart
Laycock, All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got
Round To,[1] does an interesting job of documenting the longer history. It points out that there are
only 22 countries out of nearly 200 in the world that Britain has abstained
from. That short list would be shorter still if it included covert operations, the
support of ‘rebels’ and economic sanctions.
Tony Norfield, 4 November 2012
[1] See the
review in The Telegraph, 4 November 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/9653497/British-have-invaded-nine-out-of-ten-countries-so-look-out-Luxembourg.html
