Does NATO still benefit US strategic interests?

I think what we're seeing now is not a growing thirst for war, but the fading imprints of the last two World Wars is becoming a distant memory. Many people are come to believe that, as a species and as nations, we have progressed past large scale conflict with each other. That war has become an impossible phenomena in the modern day.

In reality, people have not changed. Without going into the morality of the US government, American hegemony has done so much for economic and diplomatic progress. So much good has happened during this long peace. Even through the bipolar balance of the Cold War humanity developed and grew faster than any other time in history.

Peace is good. I understand the mindset of wanting to "de-militarize" in an effort to stop war, but by weakening America's position we are leaving open a vacuum for other powers to fill. This includes NATO. If the US wants to isolate itself on the world stage and pull back its military presence the world needs to be prepared for more wars.

People haven't changed. The idea of a nation state hasn't really changed. People and nations will work in their best interests and do what they need to do to further those interests. Historically that often ends in blood shed.

/r/PoliticalDiscussion Thread Parent