Distributed Mind
National Security
Sometimes, I think the best way to promote American security and defense is to simply stop being the largest and best. As the saying goes, the tallest blade of grass is the first to get cut down. Why do we want to be a superpower again? If we really wanted to be safe, we would start by making sure that there were people bigger and richer than us. Encourage the European Union to expand and grow and unify; beef up Russia and India and Brazil. It won't be the end of the need for defense, but it would make it much easier. (Did you know there are some countries with no military? Probably because nobody wants to invade them. Not to suggest we will ever be that, but still, something to think about.)
posted at 03:02:35 on 05/06/04
by
ben -
Category:
Politics
Comments
The best way to promote American security is to stop allowing money to run our foreign policy - it ticks people off. Also, stop funding terrorists and stop supporting dictators. In fact, maybe we can use the good ole fashion Christian idea of putting others above oneself. Help others be more secure, its amazing how it can come back and help you.
Korea, Vietnam, Grenada...all were done in self-interest and were all military operations. The only times in recent memory that the US did anything outside their immediate national interest was in the Balkans and Somalia...both of which were botched and half-hearted. One could argue we did something in Liberia, but it was pretty limited.
No doubt Europe is involved in similar debacles, but less often and on smaller scales since we have a much larger military. It is not that the US is more evil than everyone else, its that its evil has a larger effect. AND, its citizens are accountable to some extent...unlike, say, Iraq under Hussein.
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