The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-First Century [Hardcover]

James C. Bennett (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0742533328 | ISBN-13: 978-0742533325 | Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Despite repeated predictions of the demise of America and the English-speaking nations as the world's predominant culture, James C. Bennett believes that this gap will widen in the coming decades. Coining the term anglosphere to describe a loose coalition based on a common language and heritage, Bennett believes that traits common to these countries--a particularly strong and independent civil society; openness and receptivity to the world, its people and ideas; and a dynamic economy--have uniquely positioned them to prosper in a time of dramatic technological and scientific change. In a wide-ranging exploration back to the Industrial Revolution and into the future, The Anglosphere Challenge gives voice to a growing movement on both sides of the Atlantic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is very unusual to come across a genuinely new idea or a really original book. But the central thesis of The Anglosphere Challenge--that a new world order based on cultural affinity is evolving in response to the information revolution--is the most original attempt yet to make sense of the post-cold war world. New and original ideas are often strange or unsettling. Yet when Mr. Bennett has finished making his case, it seems the most obvious common sense. In short, this may be the Next Big Idea. (O'Sullivan, John )

The most original foreign policy book of the year . . . James C. Bennett has sketched how the international order might be reshaped by the Internet and the communications revolution—and what allies the United States would have in that new world. (Chicago Sun-Times )

James C. Bennett's book leads one on a journey of discovery disguised as a journey of rediscovery. He lends expression to ideas one feels one has always known, but which were never formulated until Bennett put them into words. (George Jonas )

It is clear that [James C.] Bennett and [Samuel] Huntington have similar conceptions about the core elements of 'Anglo' culture. But for Bennett, the dynamics of this culture, interacting with the global economy and Internet technology, are driving Americans beyond a mere national identity which is limited to the United States to a transnational identity which is grounded in the dense interrelations--the network commonwealth--among the English-speaking nations. The Anglosphere, Bennett foresees, will be the most coherent, advanced, and effective association of nations of any operating and competing within the global economy and the information age. As such, Bennett projects a more expansive and optimistic future for Americans than that provided by Huntington's analysis. (James R. Kurth National Interest (Fall 2004) )

The first full-length treatment of the idea [of the 'Anglosphere']—and a powerful one. [Bennett's] book is bound to ratchet up serious discussion of it to an altogether higher level—and bring it to a new and larger audience. (New York Post )

The first full-length treatment of the idea [of the 'Anglosphere']?and a powerful one. [Bennett's] book is bound to ratchet up serious discussion of it to an altogether higher level?and bring it to a new and larger audience..... (New York Post )

James C. Bennett in his pathbreaking book The Anglosphere Challenge sees the contemporary English-speaking world as what he calls a 'network civilization' - that is, a set of countries that shares a common cultural heritage going far beyond language. (The New Criterion )

The Anglosphere Challenge is one of the important books of our time. (National Review )

The volume will be of interest to readers that seek a thorough understanding of the technological revolution of the last few decades and its claimed Anglosphere heritage. (Political Studies Review )

Recommended (Choice )

In his book, The Anglosphere Challenge, James C. Bennett talks about a shared set of values in which Magna Carta, trial by jury, "innocent until proven guilty", "a man's home is his castle", and "a man's word is his bond" are common themes. (Daily Telegraph )

Stresses the pivotal nature of English fluency in the information-age economy to come. (Dick Morris )

About the Author

James C. Bennett is a founding director of the non-profit Foresight Institute, which deals with education and research on nanotechnology, and the related Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. He is also a cofounder of The Anglosphere Institute, a non-profit organization conducting policy research and further the concepts of the Anglosphere and the Network Commonwealth. Bennett is an adjunct fellow of The Hudson Institute.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (October 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742533328
• ISBN-13: 978-0742533325
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,203,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New Way to Look at Canada and the World, November 15, 2004

By 

James McCormick (Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

Any serious discussion of the central role of English traditions in Canada is fraught with twin perils: mindless claims of racism/imperialism and founding-nation chauvinism. The Anglosphere Challenge is something very different. It's an exciting exploration of a new way to look a modern global culture and its Canadian flavour, keeping both perils at bay. Leading off with a chapter on the dynamic and converging nature of modern technology (cf. Vernor Vinge's The Singularity), the author makes the case that cultural dynamism and flexibility will be at a premium in the 21st century. His claim for the future pre-eminence of the common law countries (irrespective of their citizens' personal origins) is based on the Anglosphere's history of adapting successfully (and first) to technological and political change.

Bennett shows how respect for the individual, and the effective separation of religious, political and economic powers have a very deep roots in the English-speaking world. Before the creation of Canada and the United States. Before the English Civil War. Before the Protestant Reformation. Perhaps even before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. In the roots of the English common law, we can find the fundamental principle of equal treatment before the law: male or female, lord or commoner. A virtuous circle ensued, freeing individuals from the constraints and predation of the powerful ... in ways impossible in continental Europe let alone other parts of the globe.The history (as opposed to the myths) of this era are eye-opening. And the great strength of the Anglosphere Challenge is the firm grounding in modern scholarship. The book's annotated bibliography is a gem.

Using the metaphor of concentric rings, Bennett sees the Anglosphere as an inner ring (the industrialized common law countries), an outer ring of countries strongly influenced by English language and law, and finally, a periphery of countries exposed to the language and law indirectly, through the international institutions (in trade and politics). A second major contribution is Bennett's outline of the "cultural nations" of the Anglosphere. These "cultural nations," often identified in the turmoil of 17th and 18th century England, cross modern national borders. They provide a more effective tool for understanding the politics and behaviour of modern Anglosphere countries. Finally, Bennett offers the term "network commonwealth" to describe the economic, social, and intellectual connections between Anglosphere nations that will largely overtake (but not replace) the current sovereign nations. Anglosphere nations like Canada, especially in the Internet era, will find themselves quickly and easily co-operating to handle the innovations and challenges of the 21st century.

Canadians will find their past, present and future discussed in the chapters of this book. Our lives have been profoundly affected by the two titans of the English-speaking world, the UK and US. Bennett provides a cultural context for this influence that readers from this country will find fascinating. A book that will make you think. A companion website offers sneak peek at the book plus updates on concepts and sources: anglospherechallenge.com.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Janus-Faced Book Studies the Past to Illuminate the Future, November 15, 2004

By 

Lexington Green - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

James Bennett popularized the term "Anglosphere", which refers to those communities which speak English and share in the cultural practices and institutions inherited from England, e.g. common law, parliamentary democracy, highly developed civil society, private rather than communal notions of property, entrepreneurial rather than state-led economic development, relative openness to innovation and to immigration. These characteristics have been developing in the English-speaking world for at least a millennium, and represent a distinct sub-civilization within the larger West. Bennett draws on the work of Alan MacFarlane and David Hackett Fischer to demonstrate the uniqueness of the civilization which developed in England and which it in turn passed on to its daughter polities, most importantly the United States. This Anglosphere civilization has been the path-breaker for modernity, initiating modern democratic institutions and the industrial and subsequent economic revolutions. Note that Bennett does not offer this analysis in any spirit of triumphalism. This is not the old "Whig theory" of history, since Bennett correctly sees that these developments were the result of fortunate historical contingency. Bluntly, those of us who live in the Anglosphere are not better than anybody else, just lucky to be here. Bennett predicts that the Anglosphere will continue to be the cutting edge civilization in terms of economic and political developments into the future. In particular, the existence of the Web and cheap air and sea transport has already created a unitary Anglophone economic and cultural space, which will develop further as the highest value-added products become increasingly information-intensive, placing a premium on linguistic and cultural commonalities. Bennett offers predictions concerning the institutional form that this new economic reality will call forth, which he labels a "network commonwealth". Bennett believes that this future political form, and a dense and robust underlying civil society, present the best hope for coping with the hazards presented by emerging technology, and obtaining the maximum benefits of that technology. Moreover, Bennett offers numerous, concrete policy proposals to further the development of this emerging Anglosphere network commonwealth, in the areas of trade, immigration, defense procurement and military cooperation. Bennett's book is the result of years of reflection on these historical and contemporary issues. This short paragraph does not even scratch the surface of a book that has many novel insights and profound ideas, and which opens up numerous lines for further inquiry. Five stars is really not a sufficient rating. This is one of the three or four most important books I have read in recent years to understand the world we are living in, why it is the way it is, where we are going, and how we can create a future worth living in.

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A profound work, October 16, 2004

By 

Mark Frazier (Washington DC Area) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Anglosphere Challenge: Why the English-Speaking Nations Will Lead the Way in the Twenty-First Century (Hardcover)

For more than two decades, Jim Bennett has been one of the country's most acute thinkers on the frontiers of technology and cultural/political trends. The Anglosphere Challenge shows the strengths of civil society responses to growing state incapacities and failures. Emerging "networked commonwealths", he foresees, will advance universal values of freedom while accelerating innovation across new realms of human endeavor. This book is a storehouse of wisdom and hope for not only for those in the Anglosphere, but for people of all heritages and backgrounds seeking to live in an open world.