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Doctor Hammer's avatar

"Seriously, imagine Canada offering to host a Chinese or Russian military base and what would immediately occur."

That's a good question, and I think people who say "the USA immediately invades Canada" possibly haven't thought that through well enough. That isn't to say it wouldn't be on the table with any level of certainty, but that would be a much larger step than I think most people grasp.

When applying the Roman Empire model to the US hegemony, it is also worth noting the differences in the direction of resource flow. The US does not seem to collect any tribute from its "client states", and if anything subsidizes them, which is a stark difference from the Roman model. Now possibly that is because the resources are less exciting than the political backing, but then again, Europe doesn't do much to provide military support. Land for bases, sure, but not a lot of auxiliaries.

In all, the modern US hegemony seems like akin to the Roman Empire's model than the model of a celebrity entourage: lots of hangers on who don't seem to contribute much other than "friends" and a group to hang out with, and possibly connections and a couch to crash on now and again. The older, Cold War era model probably was a bit closer to the Roman model, but even then it is a bit questionable. A new paradigm, with some features carried over, might be necessary.

Great review again, much appreciated!

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skybrian's avatar

I find Bret Devereux's writing about the "Status Quo Coalition" [1] to be more optimistic and more convincing. In particular, the economics of warfare have changed drastically (no longer is agricultural land the basis of wealth), so a direct analogy between the Roman empire and present day seems very crude. Devereux knows enough not to make that mistake.

It's true that if you squint, it's a little bit comparable. In modern times, most countries know that wars of conquest are unprofitable, but not all. This might be sort of like the calculation Roman "allies" made.

But not really the same. You might, for example, notice that many countries actually do have their own foreign policies, substantial disagreements with the US, and don't pay taxes to the US.

[1] https://acoup.blog/2023/07/07/collections-the-status-quo-coalition/

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