International If America said it would not protect particular other countries anymore.....

[Social Distance Warrior]

I was being sarcastic.

Do you guys all think we have bases around the world for fun? Do you think we protect other countries because we're dumb and like wasting money?

The American empire exists because we're smarter than the Romans and Brits and learned that conquering places is expensive and brutal and produces enemies. Instead, you make countries depend on you. Make them need you, then couple that with the implication of violence and the occasional flex on a soft target and your position is solid. We don't have to engage in wars with other powerful states like every other empire had to do. Instead, we bully little guys and eat their lunch, but we share some of that lunch with other countries. We protect them. We give them burgers and cool shoes and rap music and iPhones and they fuckin love us. None of that Rome fighting Carthage bullshit. We're smarter than that.

I don't understand people who believe that America is the greatest empire the world has ever seen but also believe that all of the decisions we've made to reach this point were random shots in the dark. We've literally had the greatest minds in human history guiding our growth. This shit doesn't happen by accident. After working for centuries to get our tendrils into everyone else's territory, deciding to pull all out troops home would only hurt us.

This is like a drug kingpin saying, "hey, what if instead of selling on every corner in the city, we just only sold out of one crack house? Genius!" No. You'll lose money and China will take your abandoned corners.

dude, I was totally kidding too and being sarcastic.

I thought the "hating us for our freedom" would have been the hint. lol

 

[Seano]

Don't they lose all their teeth if the US were not a member? Something tells me that I read someplace the US foots most of the bill and supplies most of the arms and service members.

US contributes more to NATO than the rest of the world combined.

 

[Seano]

dude, I was totally kidding too and being sarcastic.

I thought the "hating us for our freedom" would have been the hint. lol

Never joke about freedom again.

 

[Leagon]

dude, I was totally kidding too and being sarcastic.

I thought the "hating us for our freedom" would have been the hint. lol

Haha, sorry. There are so many crazies here, I don't know what's what anymore.

 

[Caudillo]

I would have my eyes on Turkey, Russia, North Korea to make a move. Israel, China, Iran, etc. are wild-cards.

Somebody would, without a doubt, move to fill the power vacuum.

God i am getting hard at my scenarios coming true and yours. This is why I want the US to just go insane under Trump and he extends his term illegally, or for the US to just withdraw and weaken. I dont care if i die, the world needs some excitement and to see the next level of evolution

 

[Caudillo]

I was being sarcastic.

Do you guys all think we have bases around the world for fun? Do you think we protect other countries because we're dumb and like wasting money?

The American empire exists because we're smarter than the Romans and Brits and learned that conquering places is expensive and brutal and produces enemies. Instead, you make countries depend on you. Make them need you, then couple that with the implication of violence and the occasional flex on a soft target and your position is solid. We don't have to engage in wars with other powerful states like every other empire had to do. Instead, we bully little guys and eat their lunch, but we share some of that lunch with other countries. We protect them. We give them burgers and cool shoes and rap music and iPhones and they fuckin love us. None of that Rome fighting Carthage bullshit. We're smarter than that.

I don't understand people who believe that America is the greatest empire the world has ever seen but also believe that all of the decisions we've made to reach this point were random shots in the dark. We've literally had the greatest minds in human history guiding our growth. This shit doesn't happen by accident. After working for centuries to get our tendrils into everyone else's territory, deciding to pull all out troops home would only hurt us.

This is like a drug kingpin saying, "hey, what if instead of selling on every corner in the city, we just only sold out of one crack house? Genius!" No. You'll lose money and China will take your abandoned corners.

The Ámerican´´ empire is ruled by foreigners and stands for nothing and has about 10 years left to 15 max. Till its partition and the movement of power to multipolarity and major power overseas.

 

[TheGreatA]

God i am getting hard at my scenarios coming true and yours. This is why I want the US to just go insane under Trump and he extends his term illegally, or for the US to just withdraw and weaken. I dont care if i die, the world needs some excitement and to see the next level of evolution

Turkey would immediately move to "clean up" the Kurds, and there's a good chance they'd move to settle that stalemate in Cyprus, as well.

Russia would re-establish previous borders and basically wipe out all the weaklings next to its borders, the likes of Georgia, etc. who have no armies to speak of.

North Korea would most likely ramp up their threats and boasts directed towards South Korea, although they'd probably need an effective nuke before outright conquering it.

Israel would probably make a move on Iran, to neutralize it as a nuclear threat. Iran, anticipating that, would likely rally its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, to launch an attack of their own, against Israel and Saudi Arabia.

China would definitely absorb Taiwan in a heart-beat, and probably other defenseless regions in the West. Might even assist the NK in conquering South Korea, so that they can rule both through a proxy.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

I wish that I could put in "what if" scenarios on Google and be given a link to a video, where I could watch it all play out...

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

What do you think NATO is?

America protecting a buncha pussies who talk shit on us for our guns and willingness to use force?

 

[Cuauhtemoc]

The American empire exists because we're smarter than the Romans and Brits and learned that conquering places is expensive and brutal and produces enemies. Instead, you make countries depend on you. Make them need you, then couple that with the implication of violence and the occasional flex on a soft target and your position is solid. We don't have to engage in wars with other powerful states like every other empire had to do. Instead, we bully little guys and eat their lunch, but we share some of that lunch with other countries. We protect them. We give them burgers and cool shoes and rap music and iPhones and they fuckin love us. None of that Rome fighting Carthage bullshit. We're smarter than that.

Rome profited from war though. They crumbled because of internal issues, Praetorians killing Emperors, insane Emperors and relying on foreigners to provide security, the Foederati.

 

[Fugazy]

This all makes me think, how can the US govt start making more money. Surely if we wanted to we could make as much money as possible and have surpluses.

 

[sloppypie]

US contributes more to NATO than the rest of the world combined.

i always read this from conservative posters and it's like you think NATO is some random entity we were forced to join by other countries and give money to. WE built NATO as a consequence of the marshall plan to rebuild europe after ww2. WE wanted NATO to build a stronger europe to combat the spread of the soviet union and communism. WE continue to fund it because allies create a safer world, and despite the collapse of the USSR, they still remain a dangerous threat (see: crimea; election interference; journalist assassinations; human rights violations).

the propaganda to dismantle NATO as some kind of leech on the US tax dollars shows such a narrow view of foreign policy and contemporary international politics that it actually makes me scratch my mother fuckin head. there are hostile nations like china and especially russia that want US global presence to dwindle. we've been a blockade on the spread of some pretty evil shit. you can point to whatever atrocities we ourselves have done, but it doesn't negate the overwhelming powerful influence we've had on world stability. you start to remove that variable, and you are going to see a real cluster fuck.

truthfully (and not directed at you seano) there's too many of these "nwo / globalist" conspiracy fucks who spout off idiocy and pretend like the world would somehow be safer and more secure if we just retracted our presence and influence. it wouldn't. it would lead to more geopolitical conflicts and a decentralization of conflict where you have mini wars all over the place.

i'm no war monger either. it's not like i enjoy this particular role we serve. and we've certainly abused it with choices like the iraq war and vietnam. but the overall goal and consequence of our presence is undeniable to anyone with even an elementary understanding of international politics. there's no evil hand guiding global affairs. it's messy, chaotic, and dangerous. there are certainly elites who take advantage of those opportunities too, maybe even create some, but that's all they are - opportunists.

so yea, we really do want to fuckin keep NATO. we invest a miniscule amount into it and the alliance it creates is invaluable. or, we can wrap arms with russia and china and see where that fuckin takes us.

 

[Ice That Jaw]

What kind of things would happen around the world? Would some nations feel it was a green light to become aggressive towards particular countries that used to have America's protection?
Russia with some Eastern European countries?

Would a united European military be enough to make the likes of Russia and China think twice about doing something that they wouldn't of in the past? Britain and France have nukes afterall, although a lot less than the two countries mentioned of course.
What about in other parts of the planet, could things change there? If America didn't protect Australia who would if Indonesia or China wanted it? Britain? Would Britain still protect Australia and NZ these days?

For one thing, Pat Buchanan would die a happy man. He's head over heels with Tulsi Gabbard because he thinks she is the most isolationist candidate running and would bring us closer to that scenario. I can't disagree with him.

 

[Skarr]

IMO a less ego driven question would be ....what would happen if the US stop interfering in the political landscape of other countires and/or other countries infrastructures?

 

[oldshadow]

i always read this from conservative posters and it's like you think NATO is some random entity we were forced to join by other countries and give money to. WE built NATO as a consequence of the marshall plan to rebuild europe after ww2. WE wanted NATO to build a stronger europe to combat the spread of the soviet union and communism. WE continue to fund it because allies create a safer world, and despite the collapse of the USSR, they still remain a dangerous threat (see: crimea; election interference; journalist assassinations; human rights violations).

the propaganda to dismantle NATO as some kind of leech on the US tax dollars shows such a narrow view of foreign policy and contemporary international politics that it actually makes me scratch my mother fuckin head. there are hostile nations like china and especially russia that want US global presence to dwindle. we've been a blockade on the spread of some pretty evil shit. you can point to whatever atrocities we ourselves have done, but it doesn't negate the overwhelming powerful influence we've had on world stability. you start to remove that variable, and you are going to see a real cluster fuck.

truthfully (and not directed at you seano) there's too many of these "nwo / globalist" conspiracy fucks who spout off idiocy and pretend like the world would somehow be safer and more secure if we just retracted our presence and influence. it wouldn't. it would lead to more geopolitical conflicts and a decentralization of conflict where you have mini wars all over the place.

i'm no war monger either. it's not like i enjoy this particular role we serve. and we've certainly abused it with choices like the iraq war and vietnam. but the overall goal and consequence of our presence is undeniable to anyone with even an elementary understanding of international politics. there's no evil hand guiding global affairs. it's messy, chaotic, and dangerous. there are certainly elites who take advantage of those opportunities too, maybe even create some, but that's all they are - opportunists.

so yea, we really do want to fuckin keep NATO. we invest a miniscule amount into it and the alliance it creates is invaluable. or, we can wrap arms with russia and china and see where that fuckin takes us.

See the quote below why people want out of NATO or UN military roles and for the US to stop coming to the aid when shit goes down.

IMO a less ego driven question would be ....what would happen if the US stop interfering in the political landscape of other countires and/or other countries infrastructures?

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

truthfully (and not directed at you seano) there's too many of these "nwo / globalist" conspiracy fucks who spout off idiocy and pretend like the world would somehow be safer and more secure if we just retracted our presence and influence. it wouldn't. it would lead to more geopolitical conflicts and a decentralization of conflict where you have mini wars all over the place.

Sounds bad for American tourists going abroad and great for arms dealers.

 

[Arkain2K]

What kind of things would happen around the world? Would some nations feel it was a green light to become aggressive towards particular countries that used to have America's protection?

This is not even a hypothetical question. It happened so many times when the aggressor believe that the U.S would stand idle.

The first Gulf War is a prime example of this. Saddam was so belligerent because he thought America wouldn't do anything to stop him from taking over Kuwait.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

What do you think NATO is?

Without America?
Mostly useless.

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

The shit in Somalia is the best example of this with Kosovo a short second.

I was only like 6 when Black Hawk Down happened but going back to watch the lead up on the news and shit (what clips you can find cause it's so long ago) and shit and the world was BEGGING the US to step in and kill some Warlords and help distribute food.

Then, when they go to get Adid and it goes belly-up cause some fucktwits in Baby Blue helmets couldn't do their goddamn job the US gets blamed.

Then during the Yugoslavia breakup the UN, AGAIN fucks it all up and the US goes to try and help clean up the mess as the leading "NATO" force and when shit goes wrong the US military is blamed again.

Funny how those in power never mention how Rwanda was a clusterfuck because of the UN and the US wasn't there... so because the US isn't to blame it's never mentioned.

There are both sides of the story.
Look at the countries and regions that the USA has fucked / destabilised because it fits its interets.

For us, Westerners? Yes, absolutely, post WWII and then post Perestroyka Murrcan partial and then total hegemony is a good thing.

But as a net, I am not sure that American involvement has been a good thing for Latin America and the Middle East as a whole, not to mention countries like Iran or say, Panama, or the Dominican Republic or Chile, that were completely fucked by the USA.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

I was being sarcastic.

Do you guys all think we have bases around the world for fun? Do you think we protect other countries because we're dumb and like wasting money?

The American empire exists because we're smarter than the Romans and Brits and learned that conquering places is expensive and brutal and produces enemies. Instead, you make countries depend on you. Make them need you, then couple that with the implication of violence and the occasional flex on a soft target and your position is solid. We don't have to engage in wars with other powerful states like every other empire had to do. Instead, we bully little guys and eat their lunch, but we share some of that lunch with other countries. We protect them. We give them burgers and cool shoes and rap music and iPhones and they fuckin love us. None of that Rome fighting Carthage bullshit. We're smarter than that.

I don't understand people who believe that America is the greatest empire the world has ever seen but also believe that all of the decisions we've made to reach this point were random shots in the dark. We've literally had the greatest minds in human history guiding our growth. This shit doesn't happen by accident. After working for centuries to get our tendrils into everyone else's territory, deciding to pull all out troops home would only hurt us.

This is like a drug kingpin saying, "hey, what if instead of selling on every corner in the city, we just only sold out of one crack house? Genius!" No. You'll lose money and China will take your abandoned corners.

Is it really accurate/fair to refer to the American empire as smarter than the British or Roman empires or as the greatest empire of all time?

Has the American empire even been in existence for 100 years? The British Empire existed for 300 - 500 years, the Roman Empire for 500 - 1500 years (depending on your interpretation, of course). Expert and non-expert consensus appears to be that America is already in decline. You've already invested a great deal in building resentment around the world. And, to be honest, forcing people's dependence on you does not necessarily do much to reduce resentment.

As is often pointed out in these sorts of discussions, American supremacy is less about American capability than it is about geographic good fortune.