Hacker News Reader

Annexed? In 2020, there is no need to annex a country to get everything you want from them - on the contrary, it's an administrative nightmare to annex a country when you can stick your military bases there, export your goods there, and make their economy dependent on your country's and your money without it.

How about shaping countries like Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam, Iraq, Syria, South Korea, Japan, etc etc etc, all in ways (intended to be) economically beneficial to the US?

If you can stage a coup or rile up and train a militia to fight your proxy war, there is no need for an outdated notion of "imperialism".

The US has the most powerful military the world has ever seen, and that power is not simply being tossed into the dumpster.

We have over 800 military bases in ~70 countries around the world.

We outsource the dirty stuff. The important thing is that there is a market for our bullets and bombs.