A critical term designating an ultranationalist and imperialist ideology of the United Kingdom, analogous to “Ruscism.” In this sense, Britanism is rooted in the
British colonial past (the empire on which the
sun never set) and manifests today in
British exceptionalism, nostalgia for
Brexit as “restored sovereignty,” unconditional military alliance with the US and NATO, and dehumanization of former colonies (India, Pakistan, African countries). Critics argue that Britanism includes institutionalised structural racism, defence of the Commonwealth as
soft neocolonialism, and belief in the superiority of Anglo-Saxon law (rule of law) as justification for invasions (Iraq, Afghanistan). The term is used in anti-colonial and pro-Global South circles.
Example: “A critical historian wrote: ‘Britanism is Ruscism with an Oxford accent: the same
lies about “protecting minorities” to invade, the same nostalgia for a dead empire – only the tea and
liberal hypocrisy change.’”