Niall Ferguson: America’s Global Retreat

Started by Mountainshield, August 09, 2014, 03:50:14 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

Mountainshield

QuoteNever mind the Fed's taper, it's the U.S. geopolitical taper that is stirring world anxiety. From Ukraine to Syria to the Pacific, a hands-off foreign policy invites more trouble.

http://www.niallferguson.com/journalism/finance-economics/niall-ferguson-americas-global-retreat

Excellent article, you just have to love Niall Ferguson  :love:

Solar

QuoteNever mind the Fed's taper, it's the U.S. geopolitical taper that is stirring world anxiety. From Ukraine to Syria to the Pacific, a hands-off foreign policy invites more trouble.

Exactly as planned by the commie in the WH.
Good find.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Alaska Slim

Quote from: Mountainshield on August 09, 2014, 03:50:14 AM
http://www.niallferguson.com/journalism/finance-economics/niall-ferguson-americas-global-retreat

Excellent article, you just have to love Niall Ferguson  :love:
Interesting article, any criticism on this President for his approach to the Middle East and Egypt especially is well earned in my book.

However, I can't say I'm a fan of him implying that the tapering of he Fed is bad thing by associating it with the tapering of the military.

We needed less Monetary expansions years ago.  :tounge:
"Fact -- the only thing more piping hot than Mom's fresh apple pie, is the sting of my anti-lowlife-terrorist mag-popper. Want a slice?!?"

Aristophanes

I think we should rethink the terms of this Global retreat. Do we really want to keep fighting Europe's wars for them? Honestly, I think a full retreat from foreign entanglements would both strengthen us domestically and increase global opinion of us, at least among those that matter. Any foreign interest group that would be concerned by this is clearly to weak to defend themselves and thinks that 'Uncle Sam' can bail them out. I would propose that we impose a steep tariff on foreign corporations and deny all foreign aid. I also think that we should continue our foreign aid to Israel due to their proximity with Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Not to mention the oil access that some of those countries imply. The South Korean situation is a bit trickier and we could try to strengthen our presence in the orient as well, however I think a much better move would be to strengthen the Pacific line of defense in all non foreign bases. Clearly China can't be trusted however I would be more worried about Russian expansionism and North Korean stupidity. Perhaps one day China will swallow up North Korea but I doubt as much because they want NK to be a buffer between them and us, due to our bases in South Korea. I honestly think that we should re-asses our working relationships with South Korea, Turkey, Afganistan and Pakistan. Especially after Pakistan's open denouncement of us recently. I would propose immediate withdrawal from Pakistan and Afganistan while strengthening our presence in Israel if at all possible. If Israel is resistant of an increased presence then perhaps we should limit their funding and munitions until they comply. But honestly I believe that Israel would be more than happy to see the relationship between our two countries increase, especially if we supported them on forced emmigration of many citizens of the Gaza strip, emigration to either Jordan or Syria might do nicely. Honestly though that all sounds very expensive and complicated. If I had to choose though I'd focus all of our foreign efforts on the Israel situation. Egypt's eagerness to please the US, and instability in Lebanon and Syria, will lead to an easy fight with Jordan if it should ever come to that, and as long as we do not seek to annex any lands, we will have perfect military dominance in the defense of Israeli actions. The trickiest part is whether or not to leave South Korea to its own devices. My personal opinion is that it makes a good buffer between China and Japan, and in all honesty while I would prefer to simply withdraw from South korea, it might be worth looking into to see if China would prefer to trade North Korea for Taiwan. My gut instinct though is to simply let North Korea and South Korea well enough alone, and to be prepared to move out of Japan in a moment's notice. Obviously we can't hold South Korea without a close working relationship with Japan and we may not have that for much longer. We should call for a full withdrawal from Afganistan and Pakistan and move all troops to Israel for a joint operation in Gaza, to peacefully emigrate all non-Israeli inhabitants into Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. Meanwhile we move all troops out of South Korea and Japan, close all bases except the ones in Okinawa, and transfer some to Hawaii and Alaska while transferring most into QATAR and Saudi Arabia. We should also re asses our relationship with Turkey. I agree that having a presence in Turkey is a smart move but we could just as easily move those bases into Italy or Sicily, or even Israel. I would prefer to simply have greater control in the middle east with as little invasion as possible. Maybe Crete or Cyprus would be willing to let some US bases on board. The point is, solidify control of the eastern Mediterranean and of the Gulf Sea as legitimately as possible, while lessening our presence elsewhere, especially Central Asia. Let more soldiers come home and use the ones overseas more effectively. We already have a close working relationship with Egypt and if they wanted some US bases to strengthen our relationship we could always transfer some away from England, Germany, Italy, or even Turkey. Ultimately I see a strong Israel leading a coalition of American-influenced governments in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and potentially Jordan, depending on their reactions. Given Russia's recent expansionism I hold no reason to keep troops in Afganistan, potentially blocking Russian troops from invading Iran, an invasion that I would watch with smiles and popcorn, I would watch it almost as eagerly as I would a Chinese invasion of North Korea. Something that I think might well happen if we move troops from the orient to the eastern pacific and the red sea.

Solar

Take this as a constructive tip.
Hit the damned enter key once and awhile!

There is no way in Hell, anyone is even going to attempt to wade into that mass of letters.
It's as if someone bought more than a thousand Scrabble games and dumped all the letters out.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

supsalemgr

Quote from: Solar on August 22, 2014, 06:47:02 AM
Take this as a constructive tip.
Hit the damned enter key once and awhile!

There is no way in Hell, anyone is even going to attempt to wade into that mass of letters.
It's as if someone bought more than a thousand Scrabble games and dumped all the letters out.

Agreed. I find myself staying away from paragraphs.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

Solar

Quote from: supsalemgr on August 22, 2014, 09:00:35 AM
Agreed. I find myself staying away from paragraphs.
Quite honestly, I'd have a splitting headache halfway through that.
He may have an interesting take on whatever it is he's discussing, but without breaks, it's near impossible to read.
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

TboneAgain

Quote from: Solar on August 22, 2014, 10:38:50 AM
Quite honestly, I'd have a splitting headache halfway through that.
He may have an interesting take on whatever it is he's discussing, but without breaks, it's near impossible to read.

There is another extreme.

It's possible to overuse the ENTER key.

Even if you're not intending to.

Sometimes mere sentence fragments and dependent phrases get promoted to paragraphs.

You may know some posters hereabouts who have this incredibly annoying habit.

It reminds me of my second year of college.

When I worked as a sportswriter for a local newspaper.

One thing I was taught early on in that job.

A newspaper paragraph always has the same number of sentences.

One.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. -- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; IT IS FORCE. -- George Washington

Solar

Quote from: TboneAgain on August 22, 2014, 02:38:58 PM
There is another extreme.

It's possible to overuse the ENTER key.

Even if you're not intending to.

Sometimes mere sentence fragments and dependent phrases get promoted to paragraphs.

You may know some posters hereabouts who have this incredibly annoying habit.

It reminds me of my second year of college.

When I worked as a sportswriter for a local newspaper.

One thing I was taught early on in that job.

A newspaper paragraph always has the same number of sentences.

One.
:lol:
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

Aristophanes

I appreciate all feedback with regard to posting style.

Reworded, my proposition is to remove all terms of Military Presence and Foreign aid in all Foreign regions EXCEPT the Middle East.

Let China have Taiwan, Korea, and Japan if it wants. Let Russia have Eastern Europe and the Stans to rebuild some semblance of the former USSR if they must. What we want is only to make our presence known and permanent and MEANINGFUL within the Middle East.

We should move bases out of Turkey, and retain an uneasy peace with Iran. We should take up Iran's offer to help us fight ISIS and we should establish a permanent US presence in Iraq, and probably Syria too.

We could move all elements of the Turkish bases into Iraq, Syria, and Jordan if need be. It may be necessary for Israel to abdicate its Sovereignty in order to join the United States. Or to at least to become a direct protectorate of either the US or Britain/the EU.

In the long run it will be more expensive to maintain US bases within Europe and Asia rather than to reintroduce Colonial control in the Middle east, and we can additionally collect colony taxes from the region to help pay for Government Programs and military operations within the region.

In establishing the colonial power we should do so peacefully if at all possible, however if not possible then I would propose a multi-step solution that slowly changes our local strategy until we form some semblance of lasting order.

STEP 1: Invade the traditional US way, with rockets, missiles and bombs, and then occupy with US marines and later the US army.

Step 2: Replace locals with US citizens in all key political positions, and establish 24/7 presence of elite units (Such as Delta Force, US Rangers, etc) at the civilian centers of power, to help guard newly introduced US citizens and to enforce their newly acquired power.

Step 3: Once military and political power is secure, stop all aerial and drone operations, except for intelligence gathering, but fire no more rockets. Instead insert highly trained agents in all major cities and establish a large institution of military police for permanent civilian control.

Step 4: Any acts of terrorism will be dealt with in the traditional way. Enforced curfews, undercover investigations, authorization for all Commanding officers to use lethal force if deemed necessary, exemption from War Crimes for all US personnel within the affected district, and general banishments, be-headings, chopping off hands, that sort of thing, only as necessary in regions where terrorist operations are still active.

Step 5: All non-cooperative districts will be treated as full police states, with little to no civil rights. The 2nd amendment will be the first to go, specifically for all Muslim residents. The 1st amendment can stay as long as it is not affiliated with any Islamic extremist groups, and the amendment for cruel and unusual punishment definitely flies out the window.


We should basically throw out all pretense, using the actions of ISIS and other inhumane groups as pretext for full revocation of Civil Rights for all local inhabitants. Don't fight terror with surgical strikes, fight terror with Harsh and Severe ORDER. (but only in such regions)

----> The only downside to all of this is the potential for such methods in the Middle East to make their way back over here, in how the Continental police deals with its own citizens. And this is a very real and considerable problem. One way to fix this problem is to stop all further immigration into the United States from middle eastern regions, except for fast US allies like Egypt, maybe Turkey, but DEF NOT!! any Arabian Peninsula state, or Mesopotamian or Persian state. Or any Turkish state except for Turkey, b/c lets face it Turkey is as much Greek as it is Turkish.

No action shall be taken against current US citizens of Middle Eastern origin, and in fact, they should be encouraged to go back to their homeland (if under US rule) and become part of the local leadership.

Aristophanes

#10
http://www.hoover.org/research/size-isnt-all-matters

This Topic is exactly the sort of thing I was referring to. This article posits the conceit that it matters not the SIZE of the US military, but instead the LOCATION. Currently we are spread to thin, all over Europe and Asia. We should either retreat to the perimeter or put all foreign assets in and around the Middle East.


QUOTE FROM ARTICLE:
"In sum, questions about the size of the U.S. military pale in importance next to ones about how its units, currently spread out and barely able to maintain themselves against serious opposition, might be reconfigured and redeployed to provide a surfeit of force to overwhelm whatever objectives the country might require for its safety. The size of a snake is less relevant than whether it is stretched out, or coiled to strike." (Article)

quiller

Quote from: TboneAgain on August 22, 2014, 02:38:58 PM
There is another extreme.

It's possible to overuse the ENTER key.

Even if you're not intending to.

Sometimes mere sentence fragments and dependent phrases get promoted to paragraphs.

You may know some posters hereabouts who have this incredibly annoying habit.

It reminds me of my second year of college.

When I worked as a sportswriter for a local newspaper.

One thing I was taught early on in that job.

A newspaper paragraph always has the same number of sentences.


One.

Sports READERS can't read longer than that.  :lol:  General news reporters use more sentences, just shorter. Like this one.

quiller

I see the forum owner has flat out TOLD the poster above to cut his crap and start breaking up long unreadable garbage into shorter unreadable garbage. I'm betting it won't take. Trolls never, ever learn.

Solar

Quote from: quiller on August 28, 2014, 06:13:28 AM
I see the forum owner has flat out TOLD the poster above to cut his crap and start breaking up long unreadable garbage into shorter unreadable garbage. I'm betting it won't take. Trolls never, ever learn.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Official Trump Cult Member

#WWG1WGA

Q PATRIOT!!!

quiller