The US projects its own interests worldwide but those often overlap with the interests of other as well.
For example, the US often stipulates intellectual property and worker rights in it’s trade deals. The US actively protects shipping lanes. The US actively negotiates visa-free entry for American passport holders to other countries. The US invests in the economies of foreign countries to stimulate trade opportunities. The US controls the SWIFT banking network which makes it so that we don’t need to send gold bullion or pallets of cash to buy things from other countries, and participating in the system requires member countries to have certain controls in place that attempt to block bad actors. The US, through it’s embassies and ambassadors, deploys it ideology to foreign governments, and makes deals that allow foreigners to invest in the USA and Americans to open businesses in foreign countries.
The US actively shuns and makes life difficult for menace dictatorships on the global stage by creating trade exclusions.
There have been coups since the beginning of time and always will be, as it’s human nature. Many citizens of other countries have no belief that the future of their country belongs to them after decades or centuries of dictatorships or kingdoms. On the whole, history shows that kingdoms rise and fall for many reasons and the people sometimes benefit and sometimes suffer for it.
Obviously it’s a highly complex topic, but if the US wasn’t doing these things, then Russia or China would be, or there would be more powerful regional factions, which could reduce the size of the world in terms of travel and trade options for many.
Whether the US is the right one to be in control of this at this point in history is a matter of intense debate among some, but it could absolutely be worse than it is now.
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America genociding Gautemala avoided in such a timeline?
Oh did America “genocide (verb)” Guatemala?
Quick yt video on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BIA4dgAJ9A
no more banana for $10
There’s always money in the banana stand.
The “It’s a Small World” ride at Disneyland.
On a tangentially related note, this documentary series from BBC4 is a fascinating insight into the decision making process the US went through over dealing with foreign mass atrocities over the past 40 years: Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda, Syria etc.
Warning: they do not hold back with the imagery of these events.
It really depends on how far back you want to look.
If the US was to suddenly stop projecting its interests internationally, then as others have mentioned, then likely the world work become somewhat more socialized. European countries would probably step up and try to keep China in check, but without the US contributing to these efforts, it would cause a significant strain on their military resources.
If the US was to take an isolationist policy 100 years ago, then there is a good chance that WW2 would have been won by the Axis. The Allied forces likely would have put up a good fight, but I’m not sure they would have emerged victorious against the combined Axis forces. The war in the Pacific would have raged on much longer, and without nuclear weapons, there would have been an extreme loss of life invading Japan. At the very least, WW2 would have lasted much much longer than it did. Depending on the outcome, plenty of countries might currently be speaking German and debating if they should tear down 80-year-old statues of Hitler.
Why stop at 100 years? Imagine 150 years. No US - Spain war, no US intervention in WW1. Maybe that would have meant no WW2.
And isolationism includes not helping Nazis and their allies like Texaco, Ford or IBM did?
Well the troubles would have continued. So there that.
Ooh I think you need to read more about history. For once, CIA wouldn’t need to support drug dealers to finance its operations in Central America. Guess where those drugs were being consumed?
What?
the cia admitted to starting the cocaine epidemic so that they can use the money to fund rebel fighters to keep central american countries weak and dependent on the united states.
I probably should have capitalised The Troubles shouldn’t I
The issue comes down to imperialism imo.
Western societies have an imperialist belief that we should be at the head of the table when it comes to the world order, politics, and having a say about what happens outside of our borders.
This is ingrained in all of us from a very young age by design. They’ve been doing it for millennia, and it’s been working pretty well, so no need to change tactics.
It’s also why non-western nation-states aren’t as involved directly in the politics of other nations. It’s not really a part of their ethos as a culture.
You’ve got a good point there but limiting it just to the west shows your lack of understanding about world politics. The imperialist approach is present in many parts of the world and throughout old and recent history. Besides the west, Russia (warning: propagandists incoming) is doing that with neighboring countries and in Africa, just like China and other African countries are doing that too in Africa. Rwanda in Congo for example. China to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Japan and their massacres during WWII. Morocco in the Sahara region. Israel in Palestine, and vice versa Hamas to Israel. In Islamic countries: sunnies vs sjiets (or however it’s written).
So your point of view is a bit too brainwashed around the west I’m afraid. Lots of governments trying to subjugate other countries for wealth and power benefits.
That’s a fair critique.
Difficult to say. For starters, we can’t know with certainty the full list of countries that were affected. We don’t know all the ways countries were affected. There’s so much we don’t know that it’s really impossible to say.
Most countries would be socialist.
Definitely a better place.
The world would be far more Socialized.
That’s actually the really sad story here.
Every “experimental” regime was either toppled (Chile) or had to align with the USSR (Cuba) to survive. There was never a real attempt at democratic socialist politics without interference from superpowers.
My relative likes to mention Nicaragua in the 1970s/80s, but I haven’t had the time to read up about it.
All Socialism is democratic, including Cuba and the USSR. Trying to reform the system along Socialist lines from within the system like Allende is why he sadly failed and was couped by the US Empire.
This is a non sequitur. It doesn’t follow that Allende choosing reform over revolution is what resulted in the US interference. The US has been known to interfere in revolutionary movements as well.
The US tried to invade Cuba as well, and tried to kill Castro, several times. That’s ultimately why he did align with the USSR - choosing the bully that’s slightly more on your side.
There was never a government at all without interference from superpowers.
Of course, but most governments are allowed to mostly be sovereign.
Sweden or Australia play ball on their own, no need for a coup here.
Idk, but I feel like Olof Palme (PM of Sweden) def got murdered by the USA for his criticism on the Vietnam War. Or by South Africa for his criticism on apartheid.
Lol, what? Australia is a US lackee more than anywhere else. And the CIA was definitely involved in the Whitlam sacking.
most governments are allowed to mostly be sovereign
Generally speaking, sovereign governments achieve that sovereignty through military might or the inability of would-be rulers to rule them, not by simply being “allowed” to govern themselves by neighbors.
The USA did not invent power.
Just imagine how scared and hungry we could all be
History doesn’t provide answers to hypotheticals
That’s why they’re asking people and not reading a history book.
Japan would probably still be isolated.
in 1853 US sent warships to force Japan to trade with the west.
Its imperial aspirations were fueled by western thought.
Those countries would have been taken over by communist regimes due to support from hostile nations… So like Cuba but all over the place.
Well, like Cuba without the embargo.
Didn’t realize I was on .ml till I saw this
You and me both. WTF is rule 1 in this context even?
Other countries would probably still have some similar shit. People are people.
Not to mention some other country would’ve been doing this instead. Other countries do, the US has just been the most notorious and the king of colonialism
I’m not even sure the US counts as king but that’s for historians to argue I guess
Or colonial empire for that matter
