> they thought they were just going to impose their laws globally and that other countries would line up to help them do it?

Why is this surprising? The United States does this all the time, successfully.

Indian citizens living in India, who have never left India and only do business with Indian entities, have to declare compliance with US laws (FATCA) when opening a bank account in India with an Indian bank. This is enforced by the Indian government.

>Indian citizens living in India, who have never left India and only do business with Indian entities

That's just one handshake away from their bank which does have business with US and their dollaridos.

> Why is this surprising? The United States does this all the time, successfully.

The surprise is that Britain is a local backwater and the United States isn't. You can't throw your weight around if you don't have any weight.

The difference is that Britain is not a super power and has not been for a long time. There is only China and the US. All other western nations and many eastern ones are shells of what they once were.