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0 pointsbaybal25y ago0 comments

I want to say that defence treaties, are a bit special in the context of USA.

Why USA has historically entered into so many treaties?

They reason is is because USA's constitutional arrangement makes it really hard for the US government to declare a war... on the paper.

So, by giving a treaty, USA was giving the strongest assurance that by turning a treaty into its own law, it prevents the chance of anybody in the constitutional order of precedence stopping, or reneging on the obligated retaliation.

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roughly5y ago

That’s an important point.

From a political standpoint, one of the purposes of the defense treaties has been to discourage allies from building up their own militaries. This was an explicit policy in the wake of WW2 to promote both US hegemony, but also to promote stability - the theory being a world with one dominant military power is less likely to see large wars like WW1 and WW2.

SkyMarshal5y ago

Well it was also because 1900s Europe couldn't seem to stop causing major wars with itself that pulled in the US and other countries. So this policy was also to rein in Germany permanently, in parallel with economically integrating Germany more closely with Europe to reduce incentives for militarism.

chrisco2555y ago

Pax Americana, like Pax Britannica before it. Wonder how much longer that can hold?

srtjstjsj5y ago

Until Pax China.

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deburo5y ago

Is this true? I keep reading that the US is putting increasing pressure on allies not spending at least 2% of GDP in their military.

roughly5y ago

It was for a long time. This is why GOP handwringing about our allies underspending on military defense is so incongruent - other countries underspending on their militaries was a cornerstone goal of post-WW2 policy. Complaining that Germany doesn’t have a strong enough military marks a pretty sharp break from prior US policy goals.

SkyMarshal5y ago

That was true until Trump, and it's really only Trump pushing for that, and the GOP going along with it b/c Trump owns the GOP now. The US policy establishment is against it, but have to follow the President's orders.

srtjstjsj5y ago

Has the US entered "so many" treaties?

WWI was caused by an overuse of treaties.

"Declaring" war had meant almost nothing since 1789.

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