How Good of A Friend is Canada to the US?

[zipo]

Well, my point is that US foreign policy is complex and multidimensional, consisting of many 'agendas' - and in fact there are tensions between constituencies/agencies within American institutions that govern foreign policy (e.g. the Pentagon, the White House, the State department, the FTC, the Fed, etc.)

And there is hardly a monolithic "agenda" or central issue that overrides or dominates all elements of the vast enterprise that constitues the totality of "US foreign policy" which you condemned as "unsustainable".

Now if you want to take issue with specific aspects of US foreign policy (e.g. democratizing the middle east)that's one thing. But blanket condemnation is simply unreasonable.

[Arnfinn Madsen]

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But blanket condemnation is simply unreasonable.

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I am not condemning everything, just some major parts but they are major enough to condemn the totality.

[zipo]

>>but they are major enough to condemn the totality.<<

Well, at least you clarified your position unambiguously.

Black and white thinking, though. Which is funny, because that's one of the prime accusations leveled at the Bush administration by its critics.

Mirror images.

[Arnfinn Madsen]

[img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]


[img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
It is not black and white-thinking. Foreign policy is all about totality and if I don't like the totality I say so. That doesn't mean I don't think it is good that the US tries to capture Balkan war criminals etc..

[zipo]

>>Foreign policy is all about totality<<f

Again, proving my point.

[CORed]

The U.S. has no friends. thank you George W. Bush.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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The U.S. has no friends. thank you George W. Bush.

[/ QUOTE ]thank you, but is has already been established that no country has friends.

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The U.S. has no friends. thank you George W. Bush.

[/ QUOTE ]thank you, but is has already been established that no country has friends except for luxemburg, you're so cute .

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And your comment is indicative of why Sweden doesn't have such friends

Explain.

[BluffTHIS!]

[ QUOTE ]
And your comment is indicative of why Sweden doesn't have such friends

Explain.

[/ QUOTE ]

Because he doesn't realize what true friendship on the international scale means. Sweden throughout the cold war refused to join NATO, although it was always "assumed" that in the event of war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact that they would come in under NATO. Thus they sought the protection of NATO in the actual event of a war that might threaten them, but refused to shoulder the financial and strategic responsibilities of membership until then. Only now in order to benefit from full membership in the EU has Sweden anlong with Finland, agreed to join in the EU miltary plan to deploy a number of battle groups by 2007.

Plus if you look to history, Sweden as well as Finalnd was a soft ally of Nazi Germany in WWII like Spain was. So how good of a neighbor were they to their fellow Scandinavian countries who bore the harsh brunt of Nazi occupation?