# If it really wanted to could the US take over the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 22, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092 "2013-02-22T17:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/62 "2014-09-21T21:40:47Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I wonder if the world community would even care much if we straight up rolled into Mexico, as long as we made the right mouth noises about ending corruption and human rights violations on our border. Something about drugs and human trafficking and uplifting the poor and all that jazz. When all the pictures and video of the burning cities and hundreds of thousands of corpses came out, they’d care. And American rhetoric about our imaginary noble purposes for attacking people is only convincing to Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/63 "2014-09-21T22:43:22Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Yeah, we’d wind up with the problem all empires have to deal with: taking territory to protect your frontier just gives you a new frontier to protect. Not in theory if we take over the whole shebang – there would not be any frontiers. Of course, we couldn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/64 "2014-09-22T00:59:40Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > When all the pictures and video of the burning cities and hundreds of thousands of corpses came out, they’d care. And American rhetoric about our imaginary noble purposes for attacking people is only convincing to Americans. What does caring really mean to the world outside the US though? Not a whole lot. No one will use military force to fight even a tinpot dictator, much less the world’s lone superpower, and sanctions are rarely done if they jeopardize the economies of other states. Which sanctions against the US would do. So if we went all psycho, the world would respond with very stern words. And not much more. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/65 "2014-09-22T02:02:41Z")
It would be the biggest murder-suicide in history, as the U.S. destroys a lot and destroys itself as a result. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/66 "2014-09-22T07:03:36Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Not in theory if we take over the whole shebang – there would not be any frontiers. Which makes it worse - now all the barbarians are \*inside \*the gates ! Why didya have to go and move the gates up for ?! Joke aside, isn’t that pretty much what did Rome in (in the West) ? Internal dissensions, too many cultures and ethnic groups each pulling their way, the center could not hold ? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/67 "2014-09-22T15:13:39Z")
I once thought we would take over the world through MTV then MTV went to shit. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2014, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/68 "2014-09-23T08:04:32Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Probably not. Not much oil or rare resources in Mexico (that I’m aware of) Mexico is one of the largest oil producers in the world. > [@adaher](#): > > So if we went all psycho, the world would respond with very stern words. And not much more. I think we could get away with murder as long as it’s in our hemisphere. Attacking Canada would be incredibly awkward though, since they’re in NATO. _Maybe_ we could get away with some African colonization, but they have some deals with the other powers that could make that a deal breaker. By that point our flag would have an absurd amount of stars. I think they’d be in on our plan for world domination. ---
**Author:** ![Gorilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Gorilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorilla)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/69 "2014-10-17T11:15:37Z")
> [@Good\_Apollo](#): > > …America has the most highly trained soldiers in the world by far, the most advanced spec ops teams, I’m making the assumption that you were writing a serious post (as opposed to pretending to be a young teenager indulging in too much nationalistic fantasizing). Could you provide a site where I can read more about this? Because, for example, it has been my understanding that the SAS and the Spetsnaz (British and Russian respectively) are at the very least as highly trained as any other group of soldiers in the world though they obviously fall short of US special forces in terms of technological facilities available to them. Do you simply mean that US forces have the advantage of knowing how to use certain military technology which simply is not available to other countries? Or are you saying that the US military has somehow figured out certain military tactics or training techniques that are unknown to other countries? Or that they are required to work much harder than trainees in other countries? Or else, what do you mean by that? ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/70 "2014-10-17T14:19:12Z")
> [@Gorilla](#): > > I’m making the assumption that you were writing a serious post (as opposed to pretending to be a young teenager indulging in too much nationalistic fantasizing). Could you provide a site where I can read more about this? Because, for example, it has been my understanding that the SAS and the Spetsnaz (British and Russian respectively) are at the very least as highly trained as any other group of soldiers in the world though they obviously fall short of US special forces in terms of technological facilities available to them. Do you simply mean that US forces have the advantage of knowing how to use certain military technology which simply is not available to other countries? Or are you saying that the US military has somehow figured out certain military tactics or training techniques that are unknown to other countries? Or that they are required to work much harder than trainees in other countries? Or else, what do you mean by that? I usually don’t address snarky posts **Gorilla** , but I found Good Apollo’s comments on the American military and SOF about right. I don’t think there is a million man Army anywhere in the world as highly trained and equipped at the U.S. Army. I don’t think second place is even close. The argument used when people are trying to say that U.S. SOF isn’t as good as other around the world is when they compare units at the lower end of the SOF scale (some Ranger units, civil affairs etc.) to highly trained smaller units such as Israeli Sayeret. But those smaller highly selective and highly trained units are better compared to SEAL Team six (NSWDG) or Delta Force. And in that comparison, the U.S. certainly doesn’t come in second. And with the technological support (including intel and material support) I think there is no better. But on to the OPs question, there is no way the U.S. could take over the world, especially with the significant budget reductions that US DoD is undergoing now. A more interesting question I think would be: When could the U.S. come the closest from taking over the world? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/71 "2014-10-17T15:34:45Z")
> [@Good\_Apollo](#): > > The United States has firepower that is so classified that, only a handful of highly ranked federal employees have access to that information. To go into a little bit of detail the United States have been experimenting with anti matter for dozens of years. Two posts, then nothing for nearly a month. I wonder if he said too much.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/72 "2014-10-17T16:47:14Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > A more interesting question I think would be: > > When could the U.S. come the closest from taking over the world? 1946, probably, before anyone else had nukes. Even then, it’d be a matter of having to destroy more potential assets than they could conquer. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/73 "2014-10-17T16:57:16Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > 1946, probably, before anyone else had nukes. Even then, it’d be a matter of having to destroy more potential assets than they could conquer. I concur it would have to have been while the U.S. had the nuclear bomb, but before the Soviet Union tested their first one in Summer of 1949. The only problem with that time frame (one of many problems actually) is that the world was still to some degree militarized due to WWII. So while the U.S. had atomic weapons and other’s didn’t, there were still sizable militaries in Great Britain, the Soviet Union and to a less extent France, China and Australia. Bottom line is, there hasn’t been a time that the U.S. could have taken over the world. And it sure as hell couldn’t do it now. As more importantly, never wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/74 "2014-10-17T17:08:59Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > … > But on to the OPs question, there is no way the U.S. could take over the world, especially with the significant budget reductions that US DoD is undergoing now. > … The budget would not be an issue if the military assignment is “take over the world”. If I were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, I would ask, “How much of the world would need to remain inhabitable by the time we’re done?” ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092/75 "2014-10-17T17:23:54Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > The budget would not be an issue if the military assignment is “take over the world”. Good point. My point (which wasn’t very clear) is that our starting point is getting weaker year by year from what it was. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-it-really-wanted-to-could-the-us-take-over-the-world/651092.md?page=3)