"It's a different thing, you know."
"Oh, certainly." Is his dry response as he eyes the younger of them and the map he has unfurled between them. He's used to seeing the markers that denote his own imperium; what he isn't used to are the flags that mark his former charge's own gains. "And I suppose calling it a 'territory' rather than a 'colony' would change their entire nature completely."
"I didn't invite you here for your sarcasm." America mutters as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose; his sights trained outward, not within. "And here I thought you would be relieved that we've found something to agree on."
You and your Corollary, he notes in part curiosity, part amusement. He, America, who had spoken in defiance to the European order—he who now preserves it, for how easy it is to change minds and hearts as soon as interests align. "It is a change from how you thought of me less than a century ago."
"Things were different less than a century ago." Its strength will be our strength; Mahan's words.
"Indeed. Taking influence of our practices seemed unlikely from you back in eighteen-twenty-three."
There is a bitter, defensive retort bubbling at the back of America's throat; he swallows it, coats it in Rapprochement, and lets it go. "It's different. What I'm doing, I mean—it's a benevolent practice for their sake, not mine."
(He does not think of similar sentiments echoed by England's own.)
"Of course it is." He doubts the boy is as daft as he feigns; neither are blind to his growth, to colossus's emergence at the hands of Spain's defeat. How unexpectedly quick, he notes. Perhaps there is use to keeping close to his former charge after all.
(He does not wish to pay mind to the worrying implications behind America's meteoric rise.)
Some notes:
1895-1915 refers to the Great Rapprochement in US-UK relations, which signified a shift in their ties to forming closer relations.
"Its strength will be our strength; and the weakening it injury to us." A direct quote from Alfred Thayer Mahan that reflected the crossing of US and UK interests.
The 1890s was also a period of America's toying around with the idea of empire; indeed, it saw during this period a correlation between great powers and the amount of colonies they controlled. Of course, the United States preferred to call them 'territories'. Benevolent practice is a sort of reference to 'benevolent assimilation' and the spreading of democracy that ties in with the exceptionalism of this period. The Spanish-American War marked the entrance of the United States into being a world power.
The Roosevelt Corollary marked a shift from the rhetoric provided by the 1823 Monroe Doctrine. Theodore Roosevelt declared in his 1904 State of the Union address that the United States would intervene in conflicts between Europe and Latin America but with the intent of legitimizing European might. In a way, it sort of embraced the international order of European powers whereas the 1823 message challenged it.
The British Empire was one of the first to recognize the growth of American hemispheric influence.