I am useless at this whole blogging thing

Yawn, tired. It's amazing how much an hour each way on your journey to work can wear you down. Still, gotten to read absolutely loads and loads. Well, a bit, and certainly more than I was doing.
I've been reading Engdahl's A Century Of War, which is an amazing book, and I'm saying this after only five chapters. It's a bit much for first thing on the train in the morning, but it does get the old grey stuff going, challenging the very hegemonic view of history I was taught at school (Irish Potato famine was precipitated, and worstened, by the falling rates of grain that repeal of the Corn Laws ensured, rather than being all about potato blight. Thanks Mr Walker).
So far, it's been a history of British maneuvering from the demolition of the Corn Laws, through the absolute atrocious behavior of the First World War, and now American and British interests, after having financed Mussolini rise to prominence, are looking at installing Hilter, with the express intent of sparking off a serious, and draining, struggle between Germany and Russia.
It's got me thinking though, more about how much different things would be if Britain hadn't been ruled by a bunch of selfish bastards, and had, instead, been more concerned with co-operation. If, instead of wanting to control the world's oil supplies (that's what sparked of WW I), they'd happily co-operated with Germany, amongst others, in developing trade and industry, you could well imagine that the Middle East could be a happier place (Israel wouldn't exist, that's for sure) and Turkey (well, the ottoman empire as it was then) would be a powerful, or at least rich, nation. Basically, as far as I can see, Britain's, and subsequently America's, aggressive foreign policy has kept Africa, the Middle East, Russia, Eastern Europe, South America, and probably the whole of the rest of the world, in political, and economic turmoil. Just thing how far advanced the world could be if people were allowed to get along.
I'd recommend reading the book (although you will probably need to take notes to keep track of it all!)