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which country are you most uneasy about?

er lets see a communist inspired government
that cracks down on desent but is allowing a massive free enterprise culture even allowing pop idol style programmes.
the youth and not so youth are allowed to vote for crap singers but not who rules them can't see it lasting
 
likesfish said:
er lets see a communist inspired government
that cracks down on desent but is allowing a massive free enterprise culture even allowing pop idol style programmes.
the youth and not so youth are allowed to vote for crap singers but not who rules them can't see it lasting

I'm not talking about the UK.
 
The Vatican must have by far the most disproportionate influence in the world, but its the US for me too. At least it definitely has been for the past 7 years.
 
N_igma said:
It's not that. The place is crawling with Hutu sp? soldiers/mercenaries that escaped from Rwanda after the genocide, it's a war zone.

Equally it is crawling with Kagame's plundering Tutsi army from Rwanda.
 
untethered said:
China without a doubt.

1.2 billion rum fellows with a substantial fifth column in every free country in the world.

This kind of talk is nothing more than Yellow Peril hangover from the cold war. Chinas not exactly expansionist. Okay apart from that unpleasantness with Tibet, but even then for your average Tibetan goat farmer life in the PRC is way better than life under the theocrats. Your average Iraqi or Afghan or Chilean (won't bother with a longer list) can't say the same about life under a US puppet government compared to what they had before. Even if it's Saddam (or the the likes of the Taliban, same shit but without as many black turbans).
 
Okay apart from that unpleasantness with Tibet, but even then for your average Tibetan goat farmer life in the PRC is way better than life under the theocrats.

One of the more moronic comments about China/Tibet. Because obviously Tibetans are extremely happy about occupation, mass arrests etc, not to mention the Chinese colonisation of the country whereby the locals are essentially been outbred by incoming Chinese migrants.

Then lets look at China in Africa - just as willing to deal with despots as Europe and the US, still just as willing to turn a blind eye to suffering (best example being the Sudanese consulate denying there was a problem of any kind in Darfur)

Yup, not expansionist in the same way the US isn't expansionist.
 
I'd say there are basically two groups of countries that concern me.

The first is the economic and military superpowers, now and to come. China is an increasingly potent force, and that's already bringing its interests into conflict with the United States to an extent. I just hope that the leaders of both have the wisdom to resolve their differences peacefully. The current US administration isn't capable of that, but thankfully it'll be gone next year: let us hope its successors have more sense. Russia is also a concern, because of its military power, mineral reserves and belligerent leadership. It might be an economic basket case, but it has to be taken seriously. India shows less belligerence in general, but much the same applies to it as to China, especially because of the ongoing rift with Pakistan.

The second is the Middle East. As the oil gets more scarce, conflicts there are only going to sharpen. The two main worries, I think, are Israel and Iran. Israel needs to stop treating the rest of the region with such high-handed contempt. Iran, meanwhile, is basking in its increased power now that the US has kindly taken out its main rival, and under that maniac Ahmedinajad it's pulling the Americans' tail. A dangerous game, IMO. Pakistan is a concern too: unstable, strategically important and nuclear. Not a particularly reassuring combination.

The second-rank powers - Britain, much of Europe - are less worrying in themselves, but still a concern. Less so now, maybe, since the folly of following the US into blundering around the Middle East, trying to bring 'democracy' by force is more apparent than it was a few years ago.
 
I'm still worried about the Germans getting ideas in their heads again :eek:

Do we really trust them? Really?

Yeah, they act all friendly nowadays but that's exactly how you would act if you were secretly planning round three of the war to end wars isn't it?

Although I'll be alright if they kick off again; I think I've got just enough German blood in me to get shipped off to the Isle of Man to sit out the festivities away from the bombs and all that irritating 'fight them on the beaches' crap ;)
 
kyser_soze said:
One of the more moronic comments about China/Tibet. Because obviously Tibetans are extremely happy about occupation, mass arrests etc, not to mention the Chinese colonisation of the country whereby the locals are essentially been outbred by incoming Chinese migrants.

Then lets look at China in Africa - just as willing to deal with despots as Europe and the US, still just as willing to turn a blind eye to suffering (best example being the Sudanese consulate denying there was a problem of any kind in Darfur)

Yup, not expansionist in the same way the US isn't expansionist.

Very true.

IMO one of the failings of many on the left is seeing all the failings of 'your own' side, and not seeing those of t'other. Far too many people are willing to bash Europe and the US, and don't seem to see that China is doing all the same things.

Major powers act in much the same way, regardless of the colour of their people's skins or what ideology they proclaim allegiance to.
 
kyser_soze said:
Yup, not expansionist in the same way the US isn't expansionist.

It's a simple fact, the USA has military bases in two thirds of the world's nations. How many have china got? One? None?

And then we've got the likes of the CIA in probably as many countries. What about the Chinese equivalent? Again, probably none.

Your efforts to equate china to the USA are faulty. And it often seems, correct me if i'm wrong, that you somehow lessen the crimes of the USGs by saying others are doing the same thing.

It's amazing really you trying to compare china to the USA as if they're somehow in the same league. The proper comparison is probably more akin to manchester utd and scunthorpe.
 
likesfish said:
er lets see a communist inspired government
that cracks down on desent but is allowing a massive free enterprise culture even allowing pop idol style programmes.
the youth and not so youth are allowed to vote for crap singers but not who rules them can't see it lasting

See, many Chinese people think their government is doing a good job. Many even argue that dictatorship brings stability while democracy means uncertainty. And as long as their standards of living keep rising, why do they innately need to go democratic? It hasn't helped the millions living in slums in India. I have seen no such poverty here.
 
And then we've got the likes of the CIA in probably as many countries. What about the Chinese equivalent? Again, probably none.

Given you don't even know what the Chinese overseas service is called, you're not really in a position to comment, are you?

This from a few years ago is a pointer, but to even think for a second that a country as old and as potentially powerful as China - the nation that produced the first guidebook to warfare - would not have an overseas investigation and espionage arm of government is naive and foolish.

You seem to still think of China as some kind of 2nd world nation, not the emergent superpower it is. Same goes for the resurgent Russia - resurgent on the back of mineral wealth.

And yet you seem to think that the leaders of both countries don't have geopolitical ambitions...it's fucking tragic, it really is. The idea that China will be some form of inactive, benevolent power that happily sails through the world on a boat called cooperation with everyone, and that won't be prepared to use the same strong arm tactics it uses in it's dealings with Tibet, Taiwan and over issues like the Spratley islands when it's sphere of influence is impacted you really have no idea of the history of great powers.

What I love as well is the 'Well it might be a dictatorship, but really it's OK' stuff...fucking priceless...
 
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