[QUOTE=ORAC;11030538]West Coast, there are only 22 countries the UK has never invaded. I think that’s a record that will be hard to beat....
(It might be less than that - see link below reference Guatemala. I spent 3 happy months at Butcher radar in Belize back in 1979. The same may apply to a couple of the others as well)
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ORAC- that depends on how you classify 'invade'. The source book apparently does so thus:
- any military presence in a country, including in support of the local power;
- any naval actions in territorial waters, even against third parties;
- military actions by non-state actors such as British mercenaries and pirates, assuming they had at least tacit consent by Britain.
A chap on Quora - search for (sorry- too virginal to post URLs) How-accurate-is-the-assertion-that-Britain-has-invaded-all-but-22-countries-in-the-world - has thrashed through the book and come up with some interesting and differing views on the actuality. Lots of links to the actions and quite a fascinating summary. Yes, we still made our presence known around the world that in today's light is unpalatable. I'm sure someone will now say 'still not good reading though....'