David Cameron pledges a "Greater Britain"
Okay, I realize that's not what he meant. But in many places in the world "Greater [insert name of country]" usually indicates the aspiration to expand the borders of that country into the lands currently controlled by the country's neighbors. Any Syrian leader who talks about "Greater Syria" is going to make Lebanon nervous. "Greater Israel" is a bugaboo I hear every time I read debates among Arabs about the I-P conflict. During the Bosnian war, Serbian nationalists talked about "Greater Serbia" indicating their goals of conquering and annexing part of Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro.
It just strikes me a dumb for a country with the UK's colonial history to use a phrase like that, even though I realize it is just a play on the name "Great Britain."
Okay, I realize that's not what he meant. But in many places in the world "Greater [insert name of country]" usually indicates the aspiration to expand the borders of that country into the lands currently controlled by the country's neighbors. Any Syrian leader who talks about "Greater Syria" is going to make Lebanon nervous. "Greater Israel" is a bugaboo I hear every time I read debates among Arabs about the I-P conflict. During the Bosnian war, Serbian nationalists talked about "Greater Serbia" indicating their goals of conquering and annexing part of Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro.
It just strikes me a dumb for a country with the UK's colonial history to use a phrase like that, even though I realize it is just a play on the name "Great Britain."
