Posted: May 05, 2017 3:04 pm
Galactor wrote:Weaver wrote:Galactor wrote:
I have the image of The Soprano's "talking" to a five-and-dime owner about whether they want "insurance" or not.
For sure, the US will "talk" to those who threaten their hegemony or economic dominance. If they "listen" then all's well.
Which is precisely why you saw us engage in so many massive displays of military force during the talks which led to NAFTA, amirite???
I don't follow the point you are making.
The US is perpetually engaged in massive "displays" of force. It has continually had a larger military machine than the rest of the world combined.
Everyone knows what happens when you step out of line.
Yes, we have the world's largest military, and we use military force, and threats of force, to accomplish our national goals.
But that doesn't mean we ALWAYS use military force, or the threats of force, in pursuit of our national goals - as evidenced by things like NAFTA, which was negotiated entirely without any suggestion of the use of force if we didn't get what we wanted. And there are many, many other examples as well - because, although we have the world's largest military (in terms of projectable power and actual strike and combat ability) the world is a big place, and we simply cannot be everywhere at once - or even threaten to be.