4 ms·

Maybe that is true today, but: 1) Much of that expertise has come directly from US involvement. See: Western Europe, Japan, Korea. 2) Much of the other expert

Maybe that is true today, but: 1) Much of that expertise has come directly from US involvement. See: Western Europe, Japan, Korea. 2) Much of the other expertise developed specifically because of US non-involvement. See: the Soviet Union and the states it influenced and supported. There were even plans to attack/nuke the Soviets, who were the only real rival post-WW2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Unthinkable Had the U.S. wished to, it could have easily formed an imperial state following WW2. That would have been in-line with essentially every large state in human history. Thankfully, they didn't, and the world is better off for it.

analyst74 6y ago
The invention of nukes and a couple failed military campaigns were probably bigger factor.
renewiltord 6y ago
I actually think America couldn’t have formed an imperial super state. That is really, really hard. Even the pre-eminent superpower of the pre-World-War Era, the United Kingdom, was having her empire fray and tatter before the Wars. The forces at play are too powerful. Rapid collapse would have followed. And that’s even assuming we could have beaten the USSR by 1949 (First Lightning), when opposition nukes enter the picture and the game changes again. The tools of modern warfare are too widespread and easy to adopt. You can’t do it anymore, the old school empire is just as dead as old school fortresses. Technology has broken it. I have friends who served in Afghanistan. I’m not unfamiliar with how powerful the US military is. But even that power is too weak. America’s approach is way more resilient and the control exerted is much easier to retain.
- candiodari 6y ago
  Every empire collapsed. That didn't stop every other large state from creating one.
- iguy 6y ago
  Besides the technology of weapons, a big change here is that the economics of running an empire was completely changed by industrialization. Every empire since the year dot captured land, with peasants farming it, who could be taxed, to pay the soldiers, to capture land... that was the business model. A little profit was left over to pay for cities, palaces, pyramids, etc. This flow of money from country to towns was reversed by the industrial revolution. Within almost every country now, the cities are taxed to pay the rural voter base (or to pay off the rural might-be-revolutionaries, in places with less voting). Not the only thing going on, of course -- changes in weapons matter to the balance, as mentioned. So does the rise of literacy & nationalism, which made the idea of rulers who are too distant (by ethnicity, language, or religion) from the population base (as they were in empires, almost by definition) into a rallying point. And thus raised the cost of holding land.
fit2rule 6y ago
>Had the U.S. wished to, it could have easily formed an imperial state following WW2. Indeed, there is a case to be made that the US leadership at the time learned from the Nazi's mistakes in announcing their plans for world order to their victims, and kept America's own plans for this American imperial state in total secrecy - indeed, even recruiting real Nazi's into the CIA, and continuing their programs unhindered by public oversight under the cover of total secrecy, in order to build the American empire we have today - 2,000 military bases around the world, countless secret CIA black sites, endless fortresses of secret crimes against humanity kept from public view... America's allies buying lebensraum from her military... And, really, this is pretty evident today. No American can quote from the CFR policies that resulted in Iraq's or Syria's or Libya's or Yemen's or Afghanistans' integration into the American empire, yet the CFR is responsible for building that very American empire. This has been a very real, and very effective conspiracy.

analyst74 6y ago

The invention of nukes and a couple failed military campaigns were probably bigger factor.

renewiltord 6y ago

I actually think America couldn’t have formed an imperial super state. That is really, really hard. Even the pre-eminent superpower of the pre-World-War Era, the United Kingdom, was having her empire fray and tatter before the Wars. The forces at play are too powerful. Rapid collapse would have followed. And that’s even assuming we could have beaten the USSR by 1949 (First Lightning), when opposition nukes enter the picture and the game changes again. The tools of modern warfare are too widespread and easy to adopt. You can’t do it anymore, the old school empire is just as dead as old school fortresses. Technology has broken it. I have friends who served in Afghanistan. I’m not unfamiliar with how powerful the US military is. But even that power is too weak. America’s approach is way more resilient and the control exerted is much easier to retain.

candiodari 6y ago
Every empire collapsed. That didn't stop every other large state from creating one.
iguy 6y ago
Besides the technology of weapons, a big change here is that the economics of running an empire was completely changed by industrialization. Every empire since the year dot captured land, with peasants farming it, who could be taxed, to pay the soldiers, to capture land... that was the business model. A little profit was left over to pay for cities, palaces, pyramids, etc. This flow of money from country to towns was reversed by the industrial revolution. Within almost every country now, the cities are taxed to pay the rural voter base (or to pay off the rural might-be-revolutionaries, in places with less voting). Not the only thing going on, of course -- changes in weapons matter to the balance, as mentioned. So does the rise of literacy & nationalism, which made the idea of rulers who are too distant (by ethnicity, language, or religion) from the population base (as they were in empires, almost by definition) into a rallying point. And thus raised the cost of holding land.

fit2rule 6y ago

>Had the U.S. wished to, it could have easily formed an imperial state following WW2. Indeed, there is a case to be made that the US leadership at the time learned from the Nazi's mistakes in announcing their plans for world order to their victims, and kept America's own plans for this American imperial state in total secrecy - indeed, even recruiting real Nazi's into the CIA, and continuing their programs unhindered by public oversight under the cover of total secrecy, in order to build the American empire we have today - 2,000 military bases around the world, countless secret CIA black sites, endless fortresses of secret crimes against humanity kept from public view... America's allies buying lebensraum from her military... And, really, this is pretty evident today. No American can quote from the CFR policies that resulted in Iraq's or Syria's or Libya's or Yemen's or Afghanistans' integration into the American empire, yet the CFR is responsible for building that very American empire. This has been a very real, and very effective conspiracy.