I also have to go with Canada.
Allies can change depending on the circumstances. Who is your best ally now can be very different 100 years from now.
So, the OP’s question can be restated to…what country in the world does the U.S. have the most in common with Geopolitically and is unlikely to change?
Canada. without question.
Whether she is a USEFUL ally is another question.
[QUOTE=Bozuit]
Sarcastic comments on my post without any actual substance or counter points aren’t really a great contribution are they? You may disagree with my statement but at least it’s relevant to the discussion.
[/QUOTE]
Why? There was nothing there worth debating…mocking it seemed to be the best course. Israel and Israelis relish the thought of killing Muslims? That’s like making the statement that black guys relish the thought of raping white women…it’s offensive and stupid at the same time. That a mod didn’t intervene means either that such blatant horseshit can slip in under the radar, or that no one notified them of what you said. That Israel deliberately ducked out of helping us in Afghanistan is just incredibly ignorant, but not offensive in and of itself. Taken as a whole, however, mockery looked to be spot on.
-XT
Nope. An absurd claim made with no proof can be denied with no proof.
Yeah, that’s fictional also.
You’re imagining “hypocrisy” because people disagree with you. It’s a cheap, tawdry tactic that’s roughly at the level of claiming that another country will engage in war because they just love killing Muslims. It shows that your argument isn’t about debate, but slinging slime. Faced with the fact that other people don’t agree with your criticisms of Israel (and you’re wrong about international law, by the way), why, they must be hypocrites!
Hating on the Jews is soooooooo…
Last millenium.
America’s “best” ally is probably the U.K., most underrated and loyal ally fighting proxy battles for us would probably be The Philippines.
No it’s not. Israel is a country, not a race, and although I wasn’t clear, based on the context of the thread I don’t think it’s unfair for me to assume that people would take “Israel” to not mean “every Israeli” but effectively the Israeli government. Again, when people talk about “America going to war for oil” they’re not referring to every American but the American government.
I held the opinion that criticism against Israel is often restrained (especially by western governments) long before today. You’re making assumptions about my opinions and my reasons for having them. I’ve already admitted it was wrong to say Israel likes killing Muslims, but that doesn’t make everything else I say or every opinion I have automatically invalid.
As for international law… I’m not sure what you think I’m wrong about exactly, but Israel has violated and continues to violate international law by settlement-building and war crimes are well-documented.
No, you said straight up that people who criticize certain things but don’t agree with your criticisms of Israel are “hypocrites”.
You’re also wrong about “war crimes” but that’s fodder for another thread.
[QUOTE=Bozuit]
No it’s not. Israel is a country, not a race, and although I wasn’t clear, based on the context of the thread I don’t think it’s unfair for me to assume that people would take “Israel” to not mean “every Israeli” but effectively the Israeli government. Again, when people talk about “America going to war for oil” they’re not referring to every American but the American government.
[/QUOTE]
Saying that the Israeli government longs to kill Muslims is equally stupid, however…and equally inaccurate as well. Trying to hand wave away the fact that people still run the government by trying to dehumanize the discussion by boiling things down to ‘a government’ is equally silly. Human beings run Israel…it’s not an impersonal entity.
As for the latter, talking about ‘America going to war for oil’ is not as offensive as saying ‘American goes to war to happily slaughter Muslims/Brown People/Whoever Else You Think America Wants to Slaughter this Year’. It’s an attempt to boil down a complex situation into a sound bite for the faithful. It’s also ridiculous in the same way as trying to disconnect Israel from the folks who live there…PEOPLE run the US government, and it’s people WE elect. So the policies that the US takes are a reflection of the people who live here…same as with Israel.
-XT
You are wrong about this. I guess it may be true in many cases, but you used the word “invariably” and that is not the case: 1999 Earthquake in Turkey.
Since the Israelis long ago learned that the UN was never going to actually shoot and kill Arabs who were trying to murder Israeli women and children, their lack of concern over “international law” is understandable.
More to the thread topic, they also learned that America was their “ally” exactly as far as it suited America and not an inch further. Talk is cheap.
Could use some definition here. Do we mean “Not a military threat?” “Avoids interference in USA domestic policy?” “Occasionally provides military help?” “Cooperates on common problems?” “Significant trading partner?”
Canada ranks high on all counts. Israel is more meddlesome than the pope, and is all too willing to hold our coat while we fight her enemies. We have (had) Israeli spies in Federal prison and they sank the Liberty.
Serious answer: Canada.
Why? The U.S. and Canada share the world’s longest undefended border. Something like 5500 miles without a single military unit deployed there.
U.K., Japan, and Canada.
How about Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico is part of the US. If they are eligible, so is California, and I know which one I’d rather be allied with.
Are you sure about that? If the Liberty counts against them, it seems we’re pretty shitty allies to the Canadians and even worse to theUK. We’re even bad allies to ourselves.
That is what I meant. They are still technically an autonomous country though right? You can’t get much closer than that.
Wouldn’t we have to have equally long borders with everyone else, in order to pick a “best?”
Probably not.
No, they are neither autonomous nor a country in most senses of the word. They have no sovereignty other than that devolved from Congress and their citizens are American citizens. It is a non-self-governing territory as defined under Article 73 of the UN Charter.
I see, thank you for clarifying this.
I guess that leaves Canada, Japan, and the U.K.?
I can’t think of any other countries that are nearly as close. Morocco was the first country to recognize the U.S. as a nation and they seem to agree with most of the U.S. policies so maybe that means something?
Countries like South Korea and Israel are only supported by the U.S. because they are enemies with a greater threat.