4 ms·

What would you like me to expand upon? I think the common-sense notion is that forms of power are interlinked. (Economics means ability to produce; military me

What would you like me to expand upon? I think the common-sense notion is that forms of power are interlinked. (Economics means ability to produce; military means capacity to inflict violence.) Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang discusses the problems when we try to draw artificial, ideological boundaries between politics and economics; the analysis also applies to military. (http://ineteconomics.org/blog/institute/ha-joon-chang-and-mariana-mazzucato-rethinking-state http://ineteconomics.org/blog/institute/ha-joon-chang-and-ma...) And when the economic sanctions in Iraq caused a US journalist to ask Madeline Albright, "We have heard that half a million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it?" we see that economics can accomplish military objectives. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_Iraq#Albright_interview http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctions_against_Iraq#Albright...)

impendia 13y ago
> What would you like me to expand upon? Suppose we immediately moved all of our military bases out of Japan. Are you predicting that the country would collapse, economically or otherwise? Is Japan otherwise dependent on us, except insofar as we are a large market for Japanese-made goods?
- calibraxis 13y ago
  a) I did not make such a prediction. For what it's worth, Hideyoshi Kase mentioned my initial common-sense reaction: "If United States withdraws its forces from Japan, we will spend the next ten years re-arming in various ways, including acquiring nuclear weapons". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_of_Japan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_of_Japan) b) Japan has significant weaknesses, like historic lack of natural resources. I imagine it has enormous dependences, and not just on the US. (Dunno how the recent finds of rare earth metals changes this.)

impendia 13y ago

> What would you like me to expand upon? Suppose we immediately moved all of our military bases out of Japan. Are you predicting that the country would collapse, economically or otherwise? Is Japan otherwise dependent on us, except insofar as we are a large market for Japanese-made goods?

calibraxis 13y ago
a) I did not make such a prediction. For what it's worth, Hideyoshi Kase mentioned my initial common-sense reaction: "If United States withdraws its forces from Japan, we will spend the next ten years re-arming in various ways, including acquiring nuclear weapons". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_of_Japan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_security_of_Japan) b) Japan has significant weaknesses, like historic lack of natural resources. I imagine it has enormous dependences, and not just on the US. (Dunno how the recent finds of rare earth metals changes this.)