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The primary threats to British identity historically have been domestic. Over the past millennium English monarchs and their ministers sought to dominate the British Isles (including Scotland, Wales, and Ireland) for the sake of their own internal security. And yet the intermittent domination of the islands over the last millennium by the English has also been the source of violent civil war carried forward by the Scottish, Irish, and Welsh. Such threats from within Britain were held in balance over the past three hundred years with threats from the European continent by the attempt to construct a "British" identity that was neither English, Welsh, Scottish, nor Irish. And yet it is auspicious that at the start of a new millennium we should find Britain, as we have known her since the birth of our nation, in the midst of profound transformations propelled by these same tensions.

Americans are often highly confused by the national identities of the British because Britain is a political union of four different nations. The Union Jack is the official flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and it symbolizes the union of three of the four nations [see sidebar]. The cross of St. George (for England), the cross of St. Andrew (for Scotland), and the cross of St. Patrick for Ireland are superimposed to create the Union Jack. The English have been the dominant nationality in Britain for most of the millennium. Eighty percent of those living in the United Kingdom are English, and the English have generally dominated political, economic, and cultural life in the United Kingdom.

It is clear that English nationals now are the only true believers in the myth of a "British" identity. Last fall a poll funded by The Economist asked English, Scottish, and Welsh nationals which flags they identified with. A full 88 percent of English nationals identified with the Union Jack, while only 49 percent of Scots, and 55 percent of Welsh identified with the kingdom's colors. However, 75 percent of Scottish nationals identified with the Cross of St. Andrew and 85 percent of Welsh nationals identified with the Welsh Dragon. The fact that only 38 percent of English citizens identified with England's Cross of St. George suggests that the English are far more comfortable with the ideal of the United Kingdom than they are with English nationalism.

The most momentous achievement in recent British politics is Blair's successful effort to bring peace to Northern Ireland. But how was the historic 1998 peace agreement achieved after only one year of Blair's rule when all other peace attempts had failed? The answer to this question lies in the deconstruction of Britain as a political entity. Moreover, it underscores why Christians who approach politics from the standpoint of principle must also be sensitive to the practical realities of politics, government, and institutions.

The Protestants in Northern Ireland were historically opposed to an agreement that would set up a regional governing body in Northern Ireland. Protestants feared that legitimating a regional government would be the beginning of the end of Northern Ireland's connection to Britain. Blair's genius in the resolution of this conflict lay in his recognition that with the creation of regional parliaments in Scotland and Wales, the establishment of a regional government in Northern Ireland would no longer be exceptional. Now Northern Ireland would be governed in nearly the same way that Scotland and Wales were governed—with limited sovereignty over local issues and ultimate assurance of British sovereignty. This solution also served to assuage growing nationalist sentiment in Scotland and Wales.

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January (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44