The World without the USA

[Repoman]

Im in the process of watching a documentary entitled "the world without us".
It presents what would happen if the USA just pulled out of everywhere in the world.
This reminds me of what the USA originally was before WWI, and a brief period during the depression.

I was curious as to what you all think would happen. Would it be for the better? Would we once again see the rise of empires, dictators, wars? Would peace proceed? Im wondering what would happen to the middle east, I know for a fact that if we left for good Israel would be attacked again, or they would all fight each other.

[Konfy]

You can't seriously say that this and this would happen, there are way too many variables. The USA (especially the CIA) did a lot of shit in the past to increase their power, but I doubt that it's a "USA thing". I think someone else or another country would take the spot, if there was the chance to do so. People with power always try to be more powerful and I think the really really big coporations are standing above the goverments, doesn't matter who gets elected or which form or kind of state it is.

(I would like to write more about my views, but my vocabulary is too small, so I can't express myself good enough to actually discuss these things in english. :/)

[Guy]

Like Konfy said above, someone else would have stepped up instead.

I wonder who be would be 'USA'.. about this time...

[Failhorse]

It would be Russia of course. After WW2 and especially into Korea, Russia wanted to expand Communism throughout the rest of the world. That's what led the US to become world police. Protect democracy by limiting it's functional ability in the 2nd world. But what happened after 89 ended up hurting the US more than helping. Communism fell, but the defense department loved spending a trillion dollars. So we found new enemies and kept moving. We globally fight for resources, but never seem to actually a quire any. Kuwait and Iraq (the first time) to protect oil. Iraq (the 2nd time) for oil (tho we lost it all to France) and Afghanistan... Well lost stop there. Afghanistan probably has the largest cache of uncollected resources in the world. For instance they have the largest copper deposit on the planet. Who did the afghan government give the rights to? China. We currently spend 2 billion a month to protect other countries interests and the US contractors that are working for them. Well really the contractors are double dipping. Getting paid by foreign governments to secure resources, then getting paid by the US government to hold and build crap or support for the military in the country.

So today, China is spreading it's influence. Not with guns or rhetoric. Just pure cash. They'll go and drop a couple billion dollars on a 2nd world country. Then have the US military police it. Meanwhile we lose out. Again. And again.

[Beartato]

Just an FYI: The World Without Us is already a book (and I think there's a film adaptation) that talks about how the world would be without people (i.e., how natural processes would take over again). It's an okay read in my opinion, but it got up to the best seller list and is enjoyed by many.

[Ichise]

Concurred. It would be far too assumptive to say that the world could not function without us. Certainly I don't want to argue that the world would be necessarily better or worse. There would be another power (or collection of powers) in charge, and there would be the same mix of opinions about said controlling power. Although in terms of your choice of Russia, I'm not so sure.

Certainly Russia is a good choice, considering their power and the time of "US withdrawal". But in the current era, who knows if they would have sustained this empire. As of recent, more foreign powers have begun to rival them in foreign influence. The natural choice is China, who already have an economic stranglehold on many countries. But I'm not convinced of China either, considering the sheer magnitude of internal fracturing that has begun as of late. Other natural choices would be India, Japan, a collection of European countries, etc.

But what brings this up? Under what circumstances would you presume that the US would pull out of everywhere? Its fine if this is just a hypothetical, but by this point, what would the US's reaction be to any sort of foreign imperialist power having a presence over the rest of the world? Americans are not famous for taking foreign influence lying down; by this point something would have happened.

[Spyder]

Worst case scenario, the U.S. will just become as impotent as the European unions.

[Shotgunbob]

This bald eagle is crying at the thought of a world without 'Murica.

Imagine a world without this:



or this

[Repoman]

Worst case scenario, the U.S. will just become as impotent as the European unions.

This, and if we pulled out the Europeans would certainly not be any world powers. They are lacking military, and they have no sympathy for other countries other than themselves. I'm referring to the crisis in the Balkans, and how they all handle foreign policy.

I agree that China would be the most logical choice, or even Russia if they somehow managed to re create that empire they once had.

[Spyder]

This bald eagle is crying at the thought of a world without 'Murica.

Imagine a world without this:



or this

I wish presidents were as epic as this.

[Hatred]

it would be hard to say ... the USA doesnt make the world go around ... but they do help it on is way ...

they have also played some major roles in wars ... sometimes good other times bad ... without the USA influence it could be real bad ... or real good ... of course i mean for different part of the world on both those factors ...

[xalde]

Let's take this a few steps further..

Do humans deserve their existence? Do they really do more good than bad in the world? Or to put it this way: if the end of the world were to come to pass, should humanity be deserving to survive? Or would the world, assuming to still be intact and hospitable, be better without us.

(I've already read the book "the world without us" a while ago, a meh read, didn't cover what I hoped it would and instead told me in a very lengthy manner what I already knew would happen in a world without humans - that mother nature would slowy but surely take over again.)

Discuss.