# What's the next country likely to abolish its military? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 13, 2009, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409 "2009-11-13T04:24:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2009, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/21 "2009-11-13T18:11:21Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > Well, that and the fact that both countries’ names are almost identical. But you would have been fine if only one of the names were identical, right? ---
**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:** [November 13, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/22 "2009-11-13T19:48:36Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > (against whom ? - tell me) It’s like getting a flu shot - taking a little pain now saves you the potential of a lot of pain later. [A similar discussion came up two years ago,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8894042) albeit springing from a vapid spammy OP. > [@netsplit](#): > > That aside I think there’s time’s when [war is] necessary, but only in extreme cases of self defense. > [@the handsome youthful Bryan Ekers of 2007](#): > > For it to be a useful deterrent, you have to be able to get into a war state long before you absolutely have to, if you get my meaning. No point letting foreign troops mass on the border and only gearing up for war after they roll across and start attacking your cities. Defensive military preparation, if not plans for an outright first strike, should always be an early response, as well as occasional shows of force (military exercises, large public parades with marching troops and tanks and missile trucks and whatnot, publicized weapons tests, etc.) to encourage your neighbors to go Lebensrauming somewhere else. > > Extreme cases of self defense? I’m happy to start shooting over mild cases of self defense, long before they get extreme and the decision of where and how to counterattack is taken from me. And then my Canadianess was questioned, but I didn’t take it personally. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/23 "2009-11-14T01:43:25Z")
It won’t be Thailand anytime soon. Besides the Muslim insurgency that’s been raging in our deep South for almost six years now and claimed 3800 lives to date, we seem to be on the brink of war with Cambodia. Really. The two nations have recalled their ambassadors in the past week. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/24 "2009-11-14T02:56:13Z")
How about Canada? Hey, guys, you don’t need a military! Nobody wants to invade you! Nope, **nobody!** _chuckle_ ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/25 "2009-11-16T13:12:34Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Ireland. The rest of Europe, especially the UK, which has a province on the island, as well as a vested interest in not allowing an aggressor to use the island as a staging post, would protect them. Unless the UK were the aggressor that is. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/26 "2009-11-16T13:55:15Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > It’s like getting a flu shot - taking a little pain now saves you the potential of a lot of pain later. > > [A similar discussion came up two years ago,](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=8894042) albeit springing from a vapid spammy OP. > “to encourage your neighbors to go Lebensrauming somewhere else.” > > And then my Canadianess was questioned, but I didn’t take it personally. Nothing wrong with Canadians … they are good at keeping the polar bears amused before they get far enough south to start nomming on us 😃 And I love the lebensrauming bit … I keep hearing it in the voice of LSD from The Producers … I liebs ya baby, i liebs ya, now lieb me alone … \ ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/27 "2009-11-17T21:19:33Z")
I’m hoping it’s Sweden. We’ve had ~200 years of not war and I’m thinking do we really need to keep paying for stuff we haven’t used in two centuries? Then, we legalise marijuana and I retire to a paradise island with 3 clones of Natalie Portman (I will keep them seperate so their menstruational cycles don’t synchronise). ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/28 "2009-11-17T21:42:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > It won’t be Thailand anytime soon. Besides the Muslim insurgency that’s been raging in our deep South for almost six years now and claimed 3800 lives to date, we seem to be on the brink of war with Cambodia. Really. The two nations have recalled their ambassadors in the past week. Could you provide a thumbnail of what the grievences are? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/29 "2009-11-17T21:50:39Z")
If I had to guess, apart from micronations and tiny island nations… New Zealand. remote location which is hard to attack + protection by australia and US + insufficient other characteristics to make them a regional power regardless of the military + a country that doesn’t have a jingoistic head up its ass = no point ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/30 "2009-11-18T03:56:46Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Could you provide a thumbnail of what the grievences are? It’s extremely complicated, and this pops up every 20 years or so. A brief overview is [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Thailand_insurgency). ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/31 "2009-11-18T07:02:13Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > [Quote=Siam Sam] > It won’t be Thailand anytime soon. Besides the Muslim insurgency that’s been raging in our deep South for almost six years now and claimed 3800 lives to date, we seem to be on the brink of war with Cambodia. Really. The two nations have recalled their ambassadors in the past week. Could you provide a thumbnail of what the grievences are? [/quote] > [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > If I had to guess, apart from micronations and tiny island nations… New Zealand. OK, this sequence made me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/32 "2009-11-18T11:53:29Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Being a British overseas territory, I’m pretty sure they don’t have a military to abolish. ([According to the CIA](https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/tk.html), “defense is the responsibility of the UK”.) I’m pretty sure that there are quite a few places that leave defence in the hands of the UK armed forces, such as the aforementioned BOT and Crown Dependencies. Do these places not count as separate countries? ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/33 "2009-11-18T12:09:38Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > I’m pretty sure that there are quite a few places that leave defence in the hands of the UK armed forces, such as the aforementioned BOT and Crown Dependencies. Do these places not count as separate countries? No, not really. For example, the UK recently suppressed Turks and Caicos self-government owing to corruption. (Interestingly, something similar happened to Newfoundland a few years before they found themselves joining Canada. Make of this what you will.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/34 "2009-11-18T14:20:35Z")
> [@Stoneburg](#): > > …I retire to a paradise island with 3 clones of Natalie Portman (I will keep them seperate so their menstruational cycles don’t synchronise). Well, that would be cruel to them, and you might not have to bother anyway. The Master Speaks: [Does menstrual synchrony really exist? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2429/does-menstrual-synchrony-really-exist) ---
**Author:** ![Stoneburg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Stoneburg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoneburg)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/35 "2009-11-18T20:58:39Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Well, that would be cruel to them, and you might not have to bother anyway. The Master Speaks: [Does menstrual synchrony really exist? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2429/does-menstrual-synchrony-really-exist) First, let me thank you for posting a link about nuns, lesbians and the ingestion of sperm. Although it wasn’t quite as interesting as an article on those three subjects has the potential to be. Secondly, let me point out that IF you insinuate that spending time with me would be cruel to Natalie, then it’s an act of mercy to bring 3 of them, meaning that on average they would only have to spend 1/3 as much time with me as if the others weren’t there. But IF you insinuate that it would be cruel to keep them seperate, imagine who incredibly irritating it would have to be to spend time with not one, but two, copies of yourself. If I were subjected to it, I’d probably end up killing myself(s). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/36 "2009-11-20T00:55:13Z")
A year ago I would have nominated Luxembourg in this thread, but on a recent visit to that country I learned better. Luxembourg went down this path 150 years ago, with unhappy results. Luxembourg had once been one of the most heavily fortified and militarized places in Europe–the “Gibraltar of the North”. In 1867, however, the reigning Grand Duke (and King of the Netherlands) threatened to sell it to France, which kicked up such a row that the only way to resolve the crisis short of war was to neuter the country. The fortifications were torn down, the army was disbanded (save for a tiny volunteer honor guard), and the country was bound to neutrality, under guarantee by France, the Netherlands, and Germany. We know how that worked out. In 1914 Germany fell upon the defenseless Grand Duchy, in violation of its own treaty commitment, took it over within a day and held it for four years. (But Belgium got all the international love.) In 1940 they took it over again, annexed it to Germany, and even conscipted the Luxembourgers into their army. After World War II, Luxembourg said never again and joined NATO. Today they have a spiffy little army of about 1,000 people. And as we learned in a recent thread, they never seem to have ratified the peace treaty with Japan, so they may be marching on Tokyo at any time. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409/37 "2009-11-20T02:42:18Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > /me gets the mental image of this happening in the US … > > First call out would be packed with gay guys who look like Bruno, squeeling and dropping their guns and running guys looking at the guns like they had never touched on in their lives…and about 5 dedicated hunters looking annoyed. Man, where in America have _you_ been hanging out? Sounds like a party. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-next-country-likely-to-abolish-its-military/517409.md?page=1)