The closest U.S. ally not in NATO

[k-onmmunist]

Israel.

[Purple State]

Israel, with Australia in second.

Frankly, what has Israel ever done for the U.S.?

I understand that we provide them with everything they want and need, but I can't say that we've really gotten much in return.

They'd give us anything if we asked for it.  We don't usually want it though (politically charged in recent wars+ they need their own troops). 

No, they wouldn't give us anything. Whether that's because they're involved in their own troubles or not is irrelevant. Israel just has nothing to offer to anyone as an ally. Which effectively makes them not an ally at all.

They currently give us plenty. They contribute so much to our military development and research it is pretty stunning.

Not to mention they destroyed the Osirak reactor in Iraq which we didn't have the balls to do. Then we may have actually had nuclear weapons in Iraq.

[Lunar]

I wonder if Israel acting less moderate than we'd prefer, recently attacking Gaza in the waning days of the Bush administration in order to hamstring the subsequent presidency, is a demonstration of our closeness or not?  I'd lean towards closeness, but it's an interesting relationship.

I'm not pro-Israel or pro-Palestine for the record.  I just think the whole place is just f**ked

[Ban my account ffs!]

Israel, in a parasitic sense

Well... we'll call it a symbiotic relationship.

[Lunar]

Israel, in a parasitic sense

Well... we'll call it a symbiotic relationship.

AIPAC agrees to fund politicians and not fund their challengers in exchange for their unconditional support for Israel?

By the way, I wonder how much more effective pro-Israel lobbying organizations are another-country-lobbying organizations are?  What's the next most effective?  Pro-Mexican?  Anti-Cuba?  And how big of a difference is between #1 and #2, I I imagine by an order of magnitude?

[dead0man]

I feel that Japan has been drifting away from us rather than towards us though.  They're starting to become far more dependent on China (are we) and it's not really clear who will support whom if the US and China got involved or if China and Japan got involved in a conflict in 2030.

No.  China and Japan won't be friends any time soon.  Japan is still very close with the US.  We both need each other too much.

[Lunar]

We do as of now, but whom will the US will be closer to in 20-30 years?  That's unknown but it's clear that if there'a a WW3 in the next couple decades, who will be on whose sides.

But I sense Japan driftin away from us

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Austrailia followed by Isreal.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

LOL@anyone saying Israel. Israel has stolen far more military and nuclear secrets from the US than Iran has. Hell Israel has probably done more so than any country except for the Soviet Union and its satellites and I suppose China. Israel's nuclear program is entirely based on things they stole from the US.

[Lunar]

How does that not make them close?  Close does not mean "respectful of our national privacy."  The fact that we haven't reacted to that negatively is almost evidence of our closeness.

The US also uses a lot of Israeli technology

[Smid]

Australia has fought alongside the US in every conflict the US has entered since the First World War.

[Lunar]

But would you help us invade CANADA

[Smid]

But would you help us invade CANADA

Me personally? I'm marrying a Canadian, so I guess not... Mind you, she is an Albertan tory.

[Boris]

I feel that Japan has been drifting away from us rather than towards us though.  They're starting to become far more dependent on China (are we) and it's not really clear who will support whom if the US and China got involved or if China and Japan got involved in a conflict in 2030.

democracies don't fight one another, bro

[Smid]

democracies don't fight one another, bro

I saw something about this once... The Golden Arches Theory of International Relations, or something like that? That two nations which both have Mcdonalds Restaurants trading there have never declared war on each other?

[Boris]

democracies don't fight one another, bro

I saw something about this once... The Golden Arches Theory of International Relations, or something like that? That two nations which both have Mcdonalds Restaurants trading there have never declared war on each other?

then I guess we don't have to worry about a future Indo-Pakistani war given that both countries acquired McDonald's joints in the 1990s

[Boris]

invalidated by Russia-Georgia, 2008

[Boris]

btw, is Argentina really an "ally?" I can't imagine most Americans rooted for them in 1982.

And in terms of U.S. military commitments/support, the answer is either Israel or South Korea, but those are dependent on perceived external threats.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Australia has fought alongside the US in every conflict the US has entered since the First World War.

Australia by far. They've stood by us in every war, even the nastier ones like Vietnam and Iraq. Furthermore they're not a strategic liability like Israel is. Note that Israel would cease to be a strategic liability if they came to a comprehensive agreement with their Arab neighbors.

[Beet]

I voted Kuwait, in that they are marginally more dependent on us than the others.
Israel isn't really our ally so much as we are their ally. I mean, they tried to secretly sell weapons to the Chinese in the 90s.

[Stranger in a strange land]

I voted Kuwait, in that they are marginally more dependent on us than the others.
Israel isn't really our ally so much as we are their ally. I mean, they tried to secretly sell weapons to the Chinese in the 90s.

which was really stupid on their part, as any technology they sell the Chinese is liable to end up in the hands of the Pakistanis or the Iranians.

[Lunar]

I feel that Japan has been drifting away from us rather than towards us though.  They're starting to become far more dependent on China (are we) and it's not really clear who will support whom if the US and China got involved or if China and Japan got involved in a conflict in 2030.

democracies don't fight one another, bro

Bro, I've spent like 100-110 hours of my life reading up on the Democratic Peace Theory, including debates on both sides of the issue and formal papers, you do not want to get me started bro on why that presumption is hilar

[Lunar]

democracies don't fight one another, bro

I saw something about this once... The Golden Arches Theory of International Relations, or something like that? That two nations which both have Mcdonalds Restaurants trading there have never declared war on each other?

then I guess we don't have to worry about a future Indo-Pakistani war given that both countries acquired McDonald's joints in the 1990s

THEY'VE ALSO FOUGHT EACH OTHER WHEN THEY WERE DEMOCRACIES

[Beet]

democracies don't fight one another, bro

I saw something about this once... The Golden Arches Theory of International Relations, or something like that? That two nations which both have Mcdonalds Restaurants trading there have never declared war on each other?

I saw something about this once... The end of history, or something like that? the notion that there will never be a war again because Reagan-Gorbachev ushered in an era of kumbaya and holding hands?

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A professor at a prestigious university claimed to me that Pakistan wasn't really a democracy. Then again, neither is Russia. Neither is Georgia, since apparently there were accusations of fraud in its 2008 elections...

[Lunar]

Yes, there is a debate about what counts as a democracy and what does not around the issue.  For example, most countries that deny women or minorities the right to vote wouldn't be counted as democracies today, yet the US de facto took away the voting rights of blacks until 1960 and women until 19...18ish.

Also, England bombed Finland during WW2 and they were both democracies