The Fifty-first State

Since the world is constantly changing and states change their borders, the theme of the fifty-first state is very important. Today, the United States is a world political leader who sometimes builds his policy very boldly. We can see in the daily news about US actions that can be both friendly and unfriendly. Expansion is condemned in the world. Expansion is when one country tries by all means to expand its borders and sometimes resorts to military and political means to achieve this goal. The history of the United States is a struggle for the preservation and acquisition of territories. Is it possible to say that every fifty-first state is a manifestation of expansion? I don't think so. Today, in the context of globalization, each country has a certain part of the influence on another country. Until the United States goes to military action to acquire territories, it cannot be accused of trying to buy Greenland or the strange and insane claims of turning the moon into a fifty-f...

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/11/the-fifty-first-state/302612/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCF_HsRk8G8 https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D1%8F%D1%82%D1%8C%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8F%D1%82_%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B9_%D1%88%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%82

  In the late 1940s, in the final days of the Newfoundland Dominion (at the time it was a dominion-dependent Commonwealth and an independent from Canada), Newfoundland supported, though not most, the creation of an economic union with the United States. States, thanks to the efforts of the Economic Union Party and significant US investment in Newfoundland as a result of the US-British alliance in World War II. The movement ultimately failed when, in a 1948 referendum, voters narrowly decided to unite with Canada (the Economic Union Party backed an independent "responsible government" that they would then push towards their goals).

In 1854, the Ostend Manifesto was written, which set out the reason for the United States to buy Cuba from Spain, implying the seizure of the island by force if Spain refused. After the document was published, many northern states condemned it. In 1859, Senator John Slidell introduced a bill to buy Cuba from Spain. Cuba, like many Spanish territories, wanted to free itself from Spain. The independence movement in Cuba was supported by the United States, and the leaders of the Cuban guerrillas wanted to join the United States, but the Cuban revolutionary leader José Martí called for Cuban statehood. When the American battleship Maine sank in the harbor of Havana, the United States blamed Spain for the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. After the US victory, Spain abandoned its claims to sovereignty over territories, including Cuba. The United States ruled Cuba as a protectorate until 1902. Decades later, in 1959, the US-backed Cuban government of Fulgencio Batista was overthr...

  A 2003 poll among Taiwanese residents aged 13 to 22 found that when given options to either become a province of the People's Republic of China or a state in the United States, 55% of those surveyed preferred statehood while 36% chose China's accession. A group called the Taiwan Civilian Government, formed in Taipei in 2008, claims that the island of Taiwan and other minor islands are part of the United States.

  American geopolitics expert Peter Zeyhan argued in his book The Accidental Superpower that Alberta, Canada, would benefit from joining the United States as the 51st state. Support for Alberta's separatism is growing as a result of federal government policies that are believed to damage the province's ability to build pipelines for the province's oil and gas industry and federal equalization payments. In a September 2018 poll, 25% of Albertans felt they would be better off separating from Canada, and 62% believed they were not getting enough from the confederation.

  Albania is often referred to as the 51st state for its clearly pro-American stance, mainly because of the United States' policy towards it. Referring to President George W. Bush's 2007 tour of Europe, Edi Rama, Mayor of Tirana and leader of the opposition socialists, said: “Albania is undoubtedly the most pro-American country in Europe, and perhaps even in the world. .. Nowhere else will you find such respect and hospitality for the President of the United States. Even in Michigan he would not have received such a warm welcome. " During a visit by former Secretary of State James Baker in 1992, an attempt was even made to hold a referendum declaring the country the 51st state of America. Apart from Albania, Kosovo (predominantly Albanian) is considered the 51st state due to the strong presence and influence of the United States. Since 1999, the United States has troops and the largest base outside the United States, Camp Bondsteel.

  Poland has historically been staunchly pro-American, beginning with the participation of General Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Casimir Pulaski in the American Revolution. This pro-American position was reinforced by the favorable American intervention in World War I (which led to the creation of an independent Poland) and the Cold War (which culminated in the creation of a Polish state independent of Soviet influence). Poland has made a great contribution to the "Coalition of the Willing" in Iraq. The quote, which calls Poland the "51st State", is attributed to James Pavitt, then Deputy Director of Operations for the Central Intelligence Agency, especially in connection with the extraordinary rendition.

  In 2010, the New Zealand Election Commission attempted to register the 51st participating States. The party is in favor of New Zealand becoming the 51st state of the United States of America. Party secretary - Paulus Telfer, former candidate for mayor of Christchurch. On February 5, 2010, the party applied for registration of the logo with the Election Commission. The 51-star US flag logo was rejected by the Electoral Commission on the grounds that it could cause confusion or mislead voters. As of 2014, the party remains unregistered and cannot vote.

  The Sicily Reconstruction Party, which had 40,000 members in 1944, advocated the acceptance of Sicily as a US state. This party was one of several Sicilian separatist movements active after the fall of Italian fascism. The Sicilians felt forgotten or underrepresented by the Italian government following the annexation of 1861, which ended the rule of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies based in Naples.

  In the Azores archipelago, there was a movement to secede from Portugal and join the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Feeling that they were being unfairly exploited by the authorities on the mainland, the movement believed that the best solution was to entrust them with ruling the United States. This movement was fueled by large numbers of immigrants to the United States, especially to New England states, for labor and educational reasons. Also, close social ties between the Azores and the United States have been established by American whaling companies. Based in New England and New York, whalers often used the Azores as a base for overseas operations and hired large numbers of the local population to man the ships. The movement to annex the Azores to the United States came to a head during World War I, when the United States Navy established a base for operations in the Azores. Feeling that the Americans were doing more to defend the Azores from t...

The idea of ​​admission to the United States has been discussed by some netizens based on Hong Kong's mature common law system, a long tradition of liberalism, and a vibrant civil society that makes it a global financial center much like London or New York. along with offers to become independent (within or outside the Commonwealth, as a republic or area of ​​the Commonwealth), reunification with the Commonwealth, confederation with Canada as an eleventh province or fourth territory (citing Ken McGoogan's proposal for Scotland), return to Britain as a dependent territory, joining the Republic of China (Taiwan) or joining other federations as a series of city-states. After the protests in Hong Kong in 2019-20, discussions on this topic seem to have intensified again. However, after China unilaterally passed Hong Kong's National Security Law, such discussions became illegal due to suspicions of secession.

The SpA advocates for greater self-determination in Guam and other similar territories. The special committee on decolonization agreed to approve the governor's plan for education. The commission's May 2016 report says: “Worked with scientists from the University of Guam to create and approve teaching materials. The Governor's Office collaborated with the Commission to develop educational materials for the public. The US Department of the Interior has approved a grant of 300,000 for education in decolonization, Edward Alvarez said at the United Nations Pacific Regional Seminar in May 2016. "We hope. that this may indicate a shift towards their non-self-governing territories, such as Guam, where they will be more willing to participate in discussions about our future and offer true support to help us push towards true self-government and self-determination. " 

  Despite the apparent closeness of the two countries, we have not been able to observe active cooperation lately. On the one hand, this may be due to the fact that London is trying to solve its internal problems, which have accumulated in abundance. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that Great Britain is in the shadow of its older brother. Of course, today the main political player on the world stage is the United States, which very skillfully manipulate their internal problems and do not forget to keep an eye on their colleagues. We can also observe the active participation of Great Britain in NATO military exercises and in exercises specifically with the United States.

  Winston Churchill first spoke of the special relationship between Britain and the United States in his famous Fulton speech on the Iron Curtain in March 1946, calling for “an association of English speaking peoples to establish a“ special relationship ”between the British Commonwealth and the Empire. on the one hand, and the United States on the other " In March 2010, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament recommended that the use of the term "special relationship" to describe British-American relations be abandoned.

During the last years of Tony Blair's premiership (1997-2007), Great Britain actually pursued a service policy towards the United States. London was the first to join the US military campaign in Afghanistan in 2001. Notable British support for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tony Blair was actually the only European leader who bet on the unconditional and full support of the Bush administration in its foreign policy, he, in the words of the American press, was the “Bush poodle”, “as David Cameron said,“ Britain under Blair was servile relation to America "". Ibid: “A letter from David Manning, British Ambassador to the United States, to Blair has recently become a public domain. David Manning takes the liberty of writing a letter to Blair stating that his policy is wrong, it is vicious, supporting America, Britain gets nothing, but we are losing a lot. They are no longer regarded as an independent country. In July 2007, British Foreign Office Miliband confirmed that the ...

  In 1949, the United States and Great Britain were the main initiators of the creation of NATO. Despite the declared "specialness", this relationship was repeatedly tested by both sides, for example, "Harold Wilson decided not to send troops to Vietnam, the United States invaded Grenada without British approval, and the US representative to the UN, Jean Kirkpatrick, tried to maintain ties with Latin America during the Falklands. war ", - indicates" The Independent ". During the premiership of M. Thatcher, Great Britain and the United States experienced a flourishing of special relations between them, which were even called "extraordinary".

  On March 28, 2008, Suffolk County Comptroller Joseph Saviski proposed a plan to transform Long Island (specifically Nassau and Suffolk Counties) into the 51st state in the United States. Saviskey argues that in this case, Long Island taxpayer money will remain on Long Island, and not be distributed throughout the state of New York. The future state may include 2.7 million inhabitants. But so far, Nassau County has not expressed interest in participating in the plan, which must be approved by New York State.

  Since the mid-19th century, attempts have been made to create the State of Superior (or Ontonogon) on the Upper Peninsula of Lake Michigan and possibly part of Wisconsin. Supporters of the branch say that the leadership of the state of Michigan does not pay enough attention to the problems of the inhabitants of the peninsula.

Some less likely contenders could be Guam and the United States Virgin Islands, both of which are territories of the United States, the latter could merge with Puerto Rico to form the proposed Prusvi Commonwealth (Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands) due to their geographic proximity (although they have very different histories, cultures and languages). The Northern Mariana Islands, which, like the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and American Samoa, may seek state status, and a Greater Hawaii concept is proposed to unite the United States or former Pacific territories. Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands could become one state, along with Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands (although the latter three are currently separate sovereign states that are in "free association with the United States"). Such a state would have a 2005-2007 estimated population of 447,048 (slightly less than the population of Wyoming) and an area of ​​911.82 square miles (slightl...