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Not an American, but the United States and its allies - and actually probably even most of its enemies - derive enormous economic value and peace from its milit
by DCKing 7y ago
Not an American, but the United States and its allies - and actually probably even most of its enemies - derive enormous economic value and peace from its military control of the world, which it achieves by its navy controlling the world seas and general striking power of its armed forces [0]. The United States determines the "world order" by being the remaining world's superpower (China is only beginning to challenge the US, and mostly at a regional level).
Like it or not, the U.S. armed forces underpin the world's current economic system and its relative peace. The prosperity as a result of America's control is called Pax Americana [1].
Some might consider the U.S.' powers undesirable, but I'm not arguing in favor of the general desirability of Pax Americana here. I'm just saying: keep in mind that "keeping U.S. forces at home" and significant scaling back of the foundation of Pax Americana is not desirable from both an economic perspective (for nearly everyone) or military perspective (for probably everyone).
Don't get me wrong - Pax Americana will end at some point, but it's in the best interest for everyone that this will be a mostly gradual change. For all Americans or non-Americans, it's not desirable that the U.S. withdraws its global army for any reason, including this calamity [2].
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[0]: Nukes aside, the United States army has the sheer striking force to obliterate any other armed force world wide. In a "U.S. versus the rest of the world combined" scenario, the U.S. would still have a good chance of winning.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Americana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Americana
[2]: Not the point of my post, but I don't believe this would even be a reasonable calamity for the U.S. to withdraw its armed forces for at all - outside of a small percentage of reshuffling things. Not playing down the trouble we're in at all, but we should also be making an effort to make a relative return to normalcy well within this year / within a couple of months. This is what's already being done in China.
- scotty79 7y ago> Like it or not, the U.S. armed forces underpin the world's current economic system and its relative peace. Maybe that was the case before USA clearly displayed its military inaptitude in nearly every conflict it has chosen to involve itself with over the last decades. People of the world now strongly suspect that USA military underpins peace no more than bullys presence underpins calmness in the playground.
- DCKing 7y agoI don't think many people on HN believe that the US armed forces underpin peace. But that's your soapboxing, and not what I was trying to say or even my opinion. The utter dominance of America's armed forces has achieved extraordinary peace and prosperity since World War II, since its dominance has prevented numerous smaller scale conflicts or new world wars. Me saying this isn't trying to diminish the terrible suffering that has happened in the world since World War II, but it's pointing out that historically speaking the suffering and stupidity should have been far worse. The US armed forces don't embody peace in the slightest, but they do achieve it just by virtue of existing and being so dominant.
- scotty79 7y agoUS military dominates in expenses only and gear money can buy. When it comes to successful military actions recent conflicts don't show this dominance. Does USA really prevented more wars since WWII than they caused?
- DCKing 7y ago> Does USA really prevented more wars since WWII than they caused? Absolutely. This is not just my opinion, it's also the opinion of historians and geopolitical experts. And moreover, it has historical precedent. The Roman Empire's dominance also ushered in a period of peace and prosperity, coining the original term Pax Romana. It might be a hard view to accept while having background knowledge of the suffering caused by US armed forces, and the stupidity and crimes committed. But that's just a lack of imagination of how much worse it could have been, and how much worse it was before WWII ended.
- scotty79 7y agoEven if that's the case any gain would be instantly wiped out if one Russian at one time made a decision he, according to rules, should make instead of doubting and waiting things out. But I forgot already what my original point was. :-) I'll try to educate myself about historical evaluation of Pax Americana.