“…except for the glaring exception of the British Isles, which I don’t consider to be Europe, exactly”

That expresses my own feelings quite well. When I say “Europe”, I generally mean “Continental Europe”, even (sometimes) “Old Europe”. The Isles aren’t a part of it.

Somehow I can’t get my head around the idea that these Anglophone nations face the same cultural crisis that Old Europe faces. Maybe they don’t – economic growth is better, tax rates and unemployment are lower than on the continent – but maybe the common language creates a kinship that skews my perceptions.

France, Germany, Spain – those places feel foreign – it’s easy for me to come to grips with their decline. I don’t think of the UK as declining, and I keep thinking that they’ll throw off the semi-socialist lethargy at any moment.