Hi LindyBill; Re: "Yeah, someone has to keep the Vandals and Goths at bay."
That the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did is not because they decided to go halfway across the world and solve the barbarian problems in, for example, Mongolia.
Nor would the Romans have dreamed of sending legions off to fight in a conflict to make it safer for the Japanese, for instance, instead of the Romans. And they certainly wouldn't have done it if the Japanese were telling them that they didn't want the Romans over there helping them.
The way that a superpower stays a superpower is not by exerting its power in places that are difficult logistically and diplomatically. In fact, the graveyards of superpowers is littered with tombstones that say stuff like "got involved in an unnecessary and expensive war for reasons of pride", "ignored diplomatic realities and alienated its allies", "didn't realize that overriding the desires of the whole rest of the world would leave it crushed", "didn't realize that an alliance of 3 nations wasn't enough to militarily defeat the rest of the world", "thought that its military power was enough to make the world do exactly what it wanted", or "sent expedition to Sicily, should have stayed at home".
A superpower stays that way by ensuring that its economic growth, over time, equals or exceeds that of its rivals. To achieve that goal, a superpower needs to have peace at home.
-- Carl |
