Britain faces an existential nomenclature challenge. Will the word "Great" be expunged from its name and sentenced to permanent exile? Or, will Britain's better angels gather to resurrect a second finest hour?
The close-run Scottish referendum and the future vote to remain in the European Union reflect the likelihood of smallness dominating Britain's greatness. That Prime Minister David Cameron is following Tony Blair's deference to the United States in all things large or small does not augur well for strengthening the clout of a former empire on which the sun never set. And, the reductions in Britain's defenses, based on financial exigencies rather than strategic realities, could turn the decades old withdrawal east of Suez into a withdrawal west of Europe.
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