Would work great to divide some blue and red regions in the United States ... certainly to satisfaction of its citizens and return a feeling of being represented. The forming of a coalition government with more than two grand parties may be a first step ... overhaul the elitist Electoral College. Giving women a vote plus the African Americans was a great step backward for the AngloSaxon imperialist empire. See suffragettes events at Carnegie's Peace Palace in The Hague. See my diary - Women's Suffrage Archive Film Clip 1915 .

Rudyard Kipling's famous poem "The White Man's Burden"  was published in 1899, during a high tide of British and American rhetoric about bringing the blessings of "civilization and progress" to barbaric non-Western, non-Christian, non-white peoples. In Kipling's often-quoted phrase, this noble mission required willingness to engage in "savage wars of peace."

Three savage turn-of-the-century conflicts defined the milieu in which such rhetoric flourished: the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 in South Africa; the U.S. conquest and occupation of the Philippines initiated in 1899; and the anti-foreign Boxer Uprising in China that provoked intervention by eight foreign nations in 1900.

The imperialist rhetoric of "civilization" versus "barbarism" that took root during these years was reinforced in both the United States and England by a small flood of political cartoons--commonly executed in full color and with meticulous attention to detail.

H/T Dutch version here

○ Apartheid: made in Britain: Richard Dowden explains how Churchill, Rhodes and Smuts caused black South Africans to lose their rights
○ High tide of British and American rhetoric about bringing the blessings of "civilization and progress"

It's my understanding both South Ossetia and Abkhazia seek independence from Georgia, not Russia.

○ John McCain's remarks on Georgia were derived from Wikipedia by Frank Schnittger @BooMan on Aug. 14, 2008
○ McCain's Ties with Lobbyist Scheunemann and Georgia
○ Hegemon Hold 'Em by Jeff Huber @BooMan on Aug. 25, 2008
○ Abkhazia and S Ossetia Claim Independence

As far as Spain's Catalan separatist movement ... Europe is enforcing unity. Some may prefer an United States of Europe ... wishful thinking.  :-)

○ If Catalonia goes independent, these places could be next | CNBC |

'Sapere aude'