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gnjsdad
Guest
I put this out here to show how out of control our welfare/warfare state has become.
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gilliam
Guest
Maybe it is about time other countries helped to pay for the peace they enjoy.
They can start by picking up the bill for the UN and NATO
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David_Paul
Guest
Good news indeed. Reminiscent of what the Royal Navy was able to accomplish between the Battle of Trafalgar and World War One.
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gnjsdad
Guest
The British were proud of their empire. We’re ambivalent about ours.
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David_Paul
Guest
There was fierce opposition to British colonialism from the early days on. American independence had support in London. The Boer War was resisted. There was a constant battle between shifting alliances over the nature , expansion and need for Empire. In the early 1930s, the Oxford Union resolved that British would not fight for King and Country because there was no difference between colonialism and fascism.
Far as the USA is concerned, “Empire” has been used to describe the country since George Washington. So I guess its fair to say America is an Empire. But its unlike any which has ever existed. The Romans, China, the French, the British, the Germans, Japan and the Dutch never invaded a country, overthrew the tryant who ran it and then worked as fast as they could to train and arm a democratic government to run the place.
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Fitz
Guest
I agree Gilliam. I read somewhere that since WW II many of the European countries have a sense of security (due to US) that allows their people to think they don’t need to defend their country. It is sort of like an adolescence for these countries, and definitely not too realistic. Freedom costs, and we pay a high price. However, I would hate to see the alternative.
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mpav
Guest
What is the American Empire? Why is it fair to say America is an empire? We have enormous influence around the world, true. That does not make us an empire.
As for our spending on the military, when NATO wanted to stop the genocide in Bosnia, whose military was able to respond? When the tsunami struck, whose military was able to speed aid to the afflicted areas?
As we remember the end of WWII, we can ask whether the Western democracies regretted not spending more on the military when Hitler began rampaging through Europe.
As for our spending on the military, when NATO wanted to stop the genocide in Bosnia, whose military was able to respond? When the tsunami struck, whose military was able to speed aid to the afflicted areas?
As we remember the end of WWII, we can ask whether the Western democracies regretted not spending more on the military when Hitler began rampaging through Europe.
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gnjsdad
Guest
You’re getting toward the answer with your own questions. As you say, America’s influence worldwide is enormous. No other country wields the cultural and economic influence that America does. Plus, the U.S. maintains at least 725 military installations around the world (that is, in other countries - non-American territory). Our Navy has around 15 carrier battle groups, which are capable of projecting American military power with decisive effect anywhere on the globe. If that’s not an empire, I don’t know what is.
And what about those in our media and intellectual elites who applaud our status as “the only remaining superpower”, or say America needs to maintain its “leadership status”, or refer to the President as “leader of the free world”? To my mind, these are euphemisitc references to an empire, although, I must say Americans are reluctant to think of their country in such terms.
Do the examples you cite really justify such a mammoth military budget?
I agree with you there. The British and French foolishly disarmed as Hitler was becoming more of a menace. One of the collossal blunders before World War II was Britain’s war guarantees to Poland when Britain (and France) were not capable living up to that agreement.
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mpav
Guest
Re #8
I don’t feel any need to justify the US military budget. I I did, I would point to US security. The examples I cited were just by way of mentioning that our military spending can make a positive difference in the world. The fact that we have installations in such far flung reaches of the world and technology and forces that can be deployed for good purposes is not a bad thing. Maybe some other nations should spend more, rather than sneer at our spending.
As to whether America is an empire, I don’t agree that maintaining military installations in many places around the world means that we control that territory, or exercise sovereignty in those nations. That would make us an empire. Since that is not the case, I submit we are not an empire. We have a large presence in germany. That did not stop Germany from saying “nien” to our efforts in Iraq. Indeed, the idea that America bring its military home gives the Germans pause, because our presence enables them to spend less on defense, and we spend a lot of dollars in Germany. Germany does not serve as the only example of those effects.
The fact that we have military units"…which are capable of projecting American military power with decisive effect anywhere on the globe." also doesn’t make us an empire. In point of fact, we have not used our might to impose our will. Our potential to impose our will by force doesn’t even seem to intimidate the rest of the world.
I don’t think we are an empire. I don’t think our military spending is unjustified.
I don’t feel any need to justify the US military budget. I I did, I would point to US security. The examples I cited were just by way of mentioning that our military spending can make a positive difference in the world. The fact that we have installations in such far flung reaches of the world and technology and forces that can be deployed for good purposes is not a bad thing. Maybe some other nations should spend more, rather than sneer at our spending.
As to whether America is an empire, I don’t agree that maintaining military installations in many places around the world means that we control that territory, or exercise sovereignty in those nations. That would make us an empire. Since that is not the case, I submit we are not an empire. We have a large presence in germany. That did not stop Germany from saying “nien” to our efforts in Iraq. Indeed, the idea that America bring its military home gives the Germans pause, because our presence enables them to spend less on defense, and we spend a lot of dollars in Germany. Germany does not serve as the only example of those effects.
The fact that we have military units"…which are capable of projecting American military power with decisive effect anywhere on the globe." also doesn’t make us an empire. In point of fact, we have not used our might to impose our will. Our potential to impose our will by force doesn’t even seem to intimidate the rest of the world.
I don’t think we are an empire. I don’t think our military spending is unjustified.
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