4 ms·

US sphere of influence is huge, but the French-speaking Maghreb is not a place where US is the #1 influential foreign power. UN has the power that its members

by Iv 7y ago

US sphere of influence is huge, but the French-speaking Maghreb is not a place where US is the #1 influential foreign power. UN has the power that its members collectively attribute to it. It is far more than a US tool.

colechristensen 7y ago
US foreign policy since WWII has been to maintain hegemony by (successfully) gently discouraging European military strength. The power of the rest of the membership is limited by design and has led to quite a lot of world peace. If you want evidence look at the long list of treaties the US has not signed [1] in order to not lose sovereignty to the international community. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_treaties_unsigned_or_unratified_by_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_treaties_unsigned_or_u...
- kkarakk 7y ago
  sure but lets be realistic, even japan's neutered self defense force could bully tunisia
  - knd775 7y ago
    The JSDF is a self defense force in name only at this point. They get away with it because they are very friendly with the US.
    - Iv 7y ago
      There are some real limitations in matters of range and equipment. They are not allowed to have aircraft carriers or cruise missles. IIRC, they are not allowed bomber planes as well. Tools of projections are forbidden.
necovek 7y ago
Off topic, but let me throw a few bits here. It's certainly not a US tool, not like NATO is: when UN security council vetoed (Russia, China) bombing of Serbia and Montenegro in 1999, US/NATO went ahead anyway. But when appropriate, US govt will pull out a UN card. When not, it will be simply disregarded. So UN doesn't have any power in the real sense: Serbia has been relying on that power yet there's this now practically independent state of Kosovo created against UN rules. Not that I agree with the rules (hopefully we can amend them so there is a viable way for regions to split out of their parent countries, thus avoiding wars).

by Iv 7y ago

colechristensen 7y ago

US foreign policy since WWII has been to maintain hegemony by (successfully) gently discouraging European military strength. The power of the rest of the membership is limited by design and has led to quite a lot of world peace. If you want evidence look at the long list of treaties the US has not signed [1] in order to not lose sovereignty to the international community. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_treaties_unsigned_or_unratified_by_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_treaties_unsigned_or_u...

kkarakk 7y ago
sure but lets be realistic, even japan's neutered self defense force could bully tunisia
- knd775 7y ago
  The JSDF is a self defense force in name only at this point. They get away with it because they are very friendly with the US.
  - Iv 7y ago
    There are some real limitations in matters of range and equipment. They are not allowed to have aircraft carriers or cruise missles. IIRC, they are not allowed bomber planes as well. Tools of projections are forbidden.

necovek 7y ago

Off topic, but let me throw a few bits here. It's certainly not a US tool, not like NATO is: when UN security council vetoed (Russia, China) bombing of Serbia and Montenegro in 1999, US/NATO went ahead anyway. But when appropriate, US govt will pull out a UN card. When not, it will be simply disregarded. So UN doesn't have any power in the real sense: Serbia has been relying on that power yet there's this now practically independent state of Kosovo created against UN rules. Not that I agree with the rules (hopefully we can amend them so there is a viable way for regions to split out of their parent countries, thus avoiding wars).