essay questions 11.docVIP

Unit One: The Country 1. Briefly discuss the international influence which the UK exercises on today’s world stage. By the turn of the 20th century, the United Kingdom had built up a huge overseas empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world’s land surface, the HYPERLINK /wiki/List_of_largest_empires \o List of largest empires largest empire in history. Today it has fourteen HYPERLINK /wiki/British_overseas_territories \o British overseas territories overseas territories, all remnants of the HYPERLINK /wiki/British_Empire \o British Empire British Empire. British influence can continue to be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. Queen Elizabeth II remains the head of the HYPERLINK /wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations \o Commonwealth of Nations Commonwealth of Nations and head of state of each of the HYPERLINK /wiki/Commonwealth_realm \o Commonwealth realm Commonwealth realms. It was the worlds first HYPERLINK /wiki/Industrialisation \o Industrialisation industrialised country and the worlds HYPERLINK /wiki/Power_in_international_relations \o Power in international relations foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the economic cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a HYPERLINK /wiki/Great_power \o Great power major power with strong economic, cultural, military and political influence worldwide. It is a HYPERLINK /wiki/Developed_country \o Developed country developed country, with the HYPERLINK /wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal) \o List of countries by GDP (nominal) fifth (nominal HYPERLINK /wiki/Gross_domestic_product \o Gross domestic product GDP) or HYPERLINK /wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP) \o List of countries by GDP (PPP) sixth ( HYPERLINK /wiki/Purchasing_power_parity \o Purchasing power parity PPP) largest HYPERLINK