{"id":10738,"date":"2017-11-16T11:39:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T19:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/?p=10738"},"modified":"2017-11-16T11:39:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T19:39:12","slug":"americas-indispensable-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/americas-indispensable-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Indispensable Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As long as the U.S. remains good to weaker but humane states located in dangerous neighborhoods, it will remain great as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The world equates American military power with the maintenance of the postwar global order of free commerce, communications, and travel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sometimes American power leads to costly, indecisive interventions like those in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya that were not able to translate superiority on the battlefield into lasting peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But amid the frustrations of American foreign policy, it is forgotten that the United States also plays a critical but more silent role in ensuring the survival of small, at-risk nations. The majority of them are democratic and pro-Western. But they all share the misfortune of living in dangerous neighborhoods full of bullies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

These small nations are a far cry from rogue clients of China and Russia \u2014 theocratic Iran, autocratic North Korea, and totalitarian Venezuela \u2014 that oppress their own people and threaten their regions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Middle East, there are two places that consistently remain pro-American: the nation of Israel and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. Both show a spirit and tenacity that so far have ensured their survival against aggressive and far larger neighbors. Both have few friends other than the United States. And both are anomalies. Israel is surrounded by Islamic neighbors. The ethnic Kurds live in the heart of the Arab Middle East. Quite admirably, the U.S. continues to be a patron of both.
\n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For some 500 years, the Ottoman Empire terrified the Christian Middle East and Mediterranean world. Almost every country in its swath was Islamicized. Two tiny unique places were conquered but not transformed: Armenia and Greece. Both suffered terribly at the hands of the Ottomans and their successors, the early-20th-century Turkish state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet both Armenia and Greece remained Christian and kept their languages and cultures. Today, both are still quite vulnerable to renewed neo-Ottoman Turkish pressures.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

America has been a friend to both Armenia and Greece, although their histories with the U.S. were often controversial. In turn, they have sent millions of talented and skilled immigrants to the U.S. The world is a far better place because there are 11 million Greeks who keep the legacy of Hellenism alive. Armenia still remains a Western outpost \u2014 the first country to formally adopt Christianity as a state religion, and a nation that has preserved its faith under centuries of cruel foreign persecutions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Without the United States, there would never have emerged a free and independent Taiwan and South Korea. The former would have been absorbed by communist China in 1949. The latter would have been wiped out in 1950 by Chinese-sponsored North Korea. Today, Taiwan and South Korea are models of international citizenship, democracy, and prosperity. They have given the world singular products and brands, from Foxconn and Quanta Computer to Samsung and Kia.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Given their relatively small areas, Taiwan and South Korea likely would not have survived Chinese bullying or, more recently, North Korean nuclear provocations without strong American support and protection.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our relationships with all of these vulnerable nations are as much practical as principled. All follow international law. All have sent gifted citizens to the U.S. All are fiercely self-reliant and are reputed to be among the world\u2019s best fighters.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To visit any of these countries is to experience islands of sanity and decency in neighborhoods of violence and madness. Will these unique but vulnerable nations survive?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the Middle East, age-old enemies are on the move. There is the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism, the specter of a nuclear Iran, and a newly aggressive Turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Kurdistan is threatened variously by Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Iran periodically boasts that it will soon destroy Israel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s clients in Lebanon and Syria brag that they can launch thousands of missiles into the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Greece is bankrupt and overrun by hundreds of thousands of immigrants, most of them young, male, and Muslim. Turkey systematically violates Greek national waters and airspace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

South Korea and Taiwan are both threatened by North Korea\u2019s nuclear-tipped missiles. China periodically warns them that they need to make the necessary subservient adjustments in their foreign policy to accommodate a rising China and a supposedly declining America.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

America itself is $20 trillion in debt and divided. It has lost global credibility after years of issuing phony red lines and deadlines to various rivals and enemies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The U.S. military is in sore need of repair and expansion. Much of the country is sick and tired of costly interventions that could not turn battlefield success into stability, much less into lasting strategic advantage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet a country is not just defined by its economic and military strength, its global clout or its powerful allies. It is also judged on how it treats weaker but humane nations. As long as the U.S. remains good to these impressive but vulnerable states, it will remain great as well.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Victor Davis Hanson\/\/ National Review   As long as the U.S. remains good to weaker but humane states located in dangerous neighborhoods, it will remain great as well.   The world equates American military power with the maintenance of the postwar global order of free commerce, communications, and travel.   Sometimes American power leads […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1137,28,846,116,99,1,34],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-2Nc","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11165,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/strategika-issue-50-pakistans-partnership-with-the-united-states\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":0},"title":"Strategika Issue 50: Pakistan’s Partnership with the United States","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The United States and Pakistan: Frenemies on the Brink Please read a new essay by my colleague from the Military History Working Group, Peter R. Mansoor in Strategika. For much of its short seventy-year history, Pakistan has managed to thoroughly mismanage its strategic relationships with great power patrons, regional competitors,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4999,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/goodbye-to-europe\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":1},"title":"Goodbye to Europe?","author":"victorhanson","date":"October 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson American Jewish Committee In the aftermath of the catastrophe that struck the United States last September 11, few things can have been more dismaying to Americans than the attitude adopted by many of our closest European allies, whose sympathy for the loss of life was quickly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "October 2002"","block_context":{"text":"October 2002","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2002\/october-2002\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4934,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-american-war-of-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":2},"title":"The American War of War","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 1, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not quite what we've been told. by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online (1)\u00a0In this new age the American military does not like fascists, and it thus will unleash horrific power to eliminate autocrats like Noriega, Milosevic, the Taliban, and Saddam Hussein. (2) It is as difficult to provoke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "April 2003"","block_context":{"text":"April 2003","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2003\/april-2003\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3355,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/did-we-give-up-on-libya\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":3},"title":"Did We Give Up on Libya?","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson Tribune Media Services President Obama has announced that America would stop attacking Col. Muammar Gadhafi's forces in Libya. He instead hopes that others can force out Gadhafi \u2014 or that the dictator will leave through economic and diplomatic pressure. It will apparently be up to NATO\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Libya"","block_context":{"text":"Libya","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/libya\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6812,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-worlds-new-outlaws\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":4},"title":"The World’s New Outlaws","author":"victorhanson","date":"December 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"With America's presence in the world receding, regional hegemons flex their muscles. by Victor Davis Hanson \/\/\u00a0National Review Online\u00a0 The American custodianship of the postwar world for the last 70 years is receding. Give it its due: The American super-presence ensured the destruction of Axis fascism, led to the eventual\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "America's Future"","block_context":{"text":"America's Future","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/americas-future\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11519,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/strategika-issue-55-the-structure-of-world-power\/","url_meta":{"origin":10738,"position":5},"title":"Strategika Issue 55: The Structure of World Power","author":"victorhanson","date":"November 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Structure of the Contemporary International System Please read a new essay by my colleague, Joseph Joffe in Strategika. A monopoly obtains when one firm is free to set prices and output while keeping ambitious newcomers out of the market. The best example is Standard Oil in the late 19th\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10738"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10739,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10738\/revisions\/10739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}