I like it. Not in any branch of the DSA, but might sign up for this.
Once again: Iran does not have any fucking nuclear weapons. Given the circumstances, however, they would be thoroughly justified in trying to get some.
Good Youtube channel that specialises in debunking alt-right bullshit:
Even if the assorted US military occupations were benevolent and restrained (which they obviously are not), they would still be harmful. Having foreign soldiers in your homeland is a harm in itself.
Every single overseas base creates a constant stream of victims. It’s bad enough in Okinawa; it is much worse in the global south.
Detail on this is in the latest episode of the West Wing Weekly, btw. Starts at about 1:08:40
Finally getting around to the China stuff…
Yup, yup, yup.
As with the USSR, my perspective on China is a bit more nuanced than “capitalist bad, nominally-communist good”. The Chinese state is problematic as all fuck; however, it is problematic in interestingly different ways to other nations.
In some respects, the Chinese government is very bad; Mao’s famines were a catastrophe, Tiananmen Square was a brutal betrayal of the people, the state appears to be controlled by an impenetrable gerontocracy, the degree of state power available is highly dangerous when abused. But in other respects, they are very good; modern China has done more to lift humanity out of poverty than any other nation in history.
While self interest and nationalism are primary drivers of Chinese foreign policy (as with almost everyone else), so far the consequences of their policies have been relatively benign by the standards of huge imperial superpowers. China does not casually or constantly go to war, and so far their foreign investment has tended to be done with a relatively light touch.
The 7th Fleet extracts tribute by other means. Often in the form of arms sales; deals that are just too good to refuse (if the buyers don’t want an invasion or coup, anyway).
Again, see the Akala vid that I post all the time.
Western hegemony in Asia is fading; that isn’t a question of if, it’s just a question of when. China is going to resume its natural position as the regional power whether the West likes it or not.
Yes, there is going to be some turbulence and rearrangement of local relationships as that change occurs. The more that the West resists the realignment, the greater the turbulence will be.
I’m reminded of the old joke about the dragon-repelling amulet; you know it works because you haven’t been eaten by a dragon yet.
Sure, US military intimidation is a factor in discouraging unapproved military action. But, again, China is a notably unaggressive superpower. They reclaimed Tibet and assisted the DPRK (and would have finished off the remnant of their civil war enemies in Taiwan if not for US intervention), but apart from that they mostly kept to themselves during the Cold War.
Apologies for that; I was getting a bit rhetorical, and slipped into the collective “you”. It would have been clearer if I’d written it as “People need to” rather than “You need to”. I was thinking of Western attitudes more generally rather than specifically your personal perspective.