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Then why is it so many other countries don't act as we do? USSR under Joe did; that's hardly a ringing endorsement. Any Scandinavian country would be a good c

Then why is it so many other countries don't act as we do? USSR under Joe did; that's hardly a ringing endorsement. Any Scandinavian country would be a good counter argument. Finland has withstood Soviet/Russian intimidation for more than seven decades without running around instigating insane, right-wing police states across the Globe.

keldaris 9y ago
> Then why is it so many other countries don't act as we do? That's simple: they're weak and can't get away with it. The baseline conduct of nation states is basically that of fairly rational psychopaths, capable of evaluating what they can get away with. Deviations from that norm are mostly reminiscent of irrational psychopaths. Anyone who expects "moral", "just" or "trustworthy" behavior from a nation state is just out of their mind.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Finland has withstood Soviet/Russian intimidation for more than seven decades without running around instigating insane, right-wing police states across the Globe. Some would say “submitted to” rather than “withstood”; heck, accommodating a powerful neighbor out of fear and inability to effectively resist is called “Finlandization” for a reason.
rebuilder 9y ago
Most states lack the means to throw their weight around like the USA does. Interstate relations are what anarchy looks like.
alrs 9y ago
Finland's foreign policy was benign, but its domestic policies weren't pretty. Eugenics: http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/530b988476f0db569b00000b http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/530b988476f0db569b00... Kekkonen and the collapse of democracy: http://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/18/archives/finns-extend-presidents-term-without-election-soviet-trust-cited.html?mcubz=3 http://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/18/archives/finns-extend-pres...
anigbrowl 9y ago
Inability, to a large extent. The relative youth of the US in cultural terms. the simplicity of dealing with a small biddable tyranny rather than a large messy democracy that might not agree with us. The Dictator's Handbook by Bueno de Mesquite & Smith does a good job of breaking down the utilitarian calculus of foreign policy decisions.
refurb 9y ago
Finland did align themselves with Nazi Germany early in WW2 in their effort to counter Soviet actions. Only after they came to a stalemate and peaceful agreement with the USSR did they split from the Axis and align with the Allies.

keldaris 9y ago

> Then why is it so many other countries don't act as we do? That's simple: they're weak and can't get away with it. The baseline conduct of nation states is basically that of fairly rational psychopaths, capable of evaluating what they can get away with. Deviations from that norm are mostly reminiscent of irrational psychopaths. Anyone who expects "moral", "just" or "trustworthy" behavior from a nation state is just out of their mind.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Finland has withstood Soviet/Russian intimidation for more than seven decades without running around instigating insane, right-wing police states across the Globe. Some would say “submitted to” rather than “withstood”; heck, accommodating a powerful neighbor out of fear and inability to effectively resist is called “Finlandization” for a reason.

rebuilder 9y ago

Most states lack the means to throw their weight around like the USA does. Interstate relations are what anarchy looks like.

alrs 9y ago

Finland's foreign policy was benign, but its domestic policies weren't pretty. Eugenics: http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/530b988476f0db569b00000b http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/tree/530b988476f0db569b00... Kekkonen and the collapse of democracy: http://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/18/archives/finns-extend-presidents-term-without-election-soviet-trust-cited.html?mcubz=3 http://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/18/archives/finns-extend-pres...

anigbrowl 9y ago

Inability, to a large extent. The relative youth of the US in cultural terms. the simplicity of dealing with a small biddable tyranny rather than a large messy democracy that might not agree with us. The Dictator's Handbook by Bueno de Mesquite & Smith does a good job of breaking down the utilitarian calculus of foreign policy decisions.

refurb 9y ago

Finland did align themselves with Nazi Germany early in WW2 in their effort to counter Soviet actions. Only after they came to a stalemate and peaceful agreement with the USSR did they split from the Axis and align with the Allies.