Britain’s decline did not begin with Suez; Suez merely exposed a deeper erosion already under way. This article examines the weakening of Britain’s imperial, financial and governing foundations, then asks whether the United States may be approaching its own equivalent moment of revealed limitation.
A reflection on Britain’s long structural decline since the 2008 financial crisis, arguing that the country’s problems cannot be solved simply by replacing one leader or party. The article considers weak productivity, debt, austerity, Brexit, political fragmentation, and the wider European malaise facing France and Germany, before asking whether public patience can survive continued drift.