1870-71: Franco-Prussian War, 433K dead 1914-1918: WWI, 17.6M dead, including 116K Americans 1939-1945: WWII, 54M dead in Europe, including 277K Americans 1949: NATO founded 1949-Present: No major European wars 2018: "NATO's stupid. What does it do for us anyway?"
Quibble with the word "sovereign" if you like, but don't ignore the word "voluntarily." Many of those you listed weren't voluntary.
-
-
"Voluntary" isn't a simple binary, or even a one-dimensional scale of shades of gray; it's a question of traditions, consequences, hopes, ambition, risks, and quid pro quo. Would the Treaty of Titalia have returned Sikkim's land without their help against the Gurkhas?
-
Would Sikkim have continued to exist at all in the 1820s without their alliance with the British? They voluntarily allied with the British and fought under them for a century — but what was their alternative?
-
Similarly, you're suggesting that NATO has prevented WWIII from breaking out in Europe for over half a century. But—quite aside from questions about CIA subversion and US-written constitutions—if that was really the alternative, how "voluntary" was it?
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.