@KarlDahl @jb @s2208 @EvilSandmich @sickburnbro So does the UK's half-in, half-out EU stance, followed by Brexit also conform to this idea? By backing out, they more or less put EU into the hands of Germany, but the British elites by and large were not pro-Brexit.

I can squint and tilt my head a little and make it fit, but it's not absolutely clear one way or the other, at least to me.

This historical take on Britishness being about conflict on the Continent may be just that--historical--because of the overall globohomoness of all modern Western governments.