[YAOT] US foreign policy (poll and discussion)

[Zarix]

I don't usually post to these political threads but this one isn't too heated so are here some thoughts.

Military: USA is the strongest country in this area in the world. A country that uses huge loads of money in military is always taking a risk because military build up is always a sign of plans to attack somewhere. Luckily, there are currently few nations like Irak and North Korea that are good targets so others don't have to worry. If the targets would disappear countries like China and Russia would surely start a military build up of their own and we would be a step nearer to another world war. People are starting to forget WWI and WWII and their influence on politics are dinimishing.

Politics/Alliances: The US doesn't have many allies. UN and NATO are both filled with nations that don't agree with current US actions and most of those nations that are on the same side with US aren't really doing much to help US. Of course, US doesn't need any allies because it has the strongest military in the world.

Wealth: Because US is using so much money in military things like welfare are getting less money than before. If you compare condition of the poor in Finland and USA the biggest difference is that the US system makes it hard for children from poor families to get rich. Education costs a lot in US and a student with average talents is in trouble if he/she doesn't have money. Also the US military personel is mostly from the poorer half of the people. This might result in internal conflict if the economy turns bad. Internal conflict in USA would be even more dangerous than a world war because of the huge weapons arsenal in USA.

The current leaders of USA aren't really popular but I think their actions are the best that can be done in current situation. If US hadn't started war with Irak the international relations could be much more difficult than they are today.

edit: fixed typos

[ April 01, 2003, 08:06: Message edited by: Zarix ]