I think you underestimate the effectiveness of authoritarian methods of pacification. There is an enormous difference between the methods the Coalition forces are using in Iraq today, and large scale use of concentration camps, hostage taking for actions against occupying forces and all those other good things. Imagine what Eastern Europe would have looked like during WW2, if German resources weren´t committed fighting the Soviets. Another good analogy is to look at is how things are in Tibet.
If you don’t have ethical qualms there are certainly more effective ways to combat resistances but even the Nazis had a lot of trouble quelling resistance in places with strong national identities (France, mainly but Britain would have been hell to hold on to).
All of this is a lot easier if you’re already at war with most of the world—if you also want to maintain good relations with the developed world there are some pretty firm limits on what you can do. What do you think the reaction of Europe and the Muslim world would have been to the US deciding to annex Iraq and abandon ethical restrictions on their counter insurgency tactics?
It was my belief that the counterfactual was that the rest of world agreed to stand by and allow China to take over all of the non-democratic world. The US would have faced a lot of flack if it decided to annex Iraq, yes. However, the only people who could effectively fight us in a non-Westphalian world are Russia and China. The entire Muslim world could be conquered (in the sense that got George Bush to say “Mission Accomplished”) in less than 2 years. The US, however, would not embrace the tactics necessary to pacify that territory, nor would we be able to raise the number of troops necessary to control the territory. China, on the other hand, has a 2.25 million strong army and the ability to impress far more and to engage in the sorts of tactics that allow actual pacification.
I’m not sure we hold different views then. A world where no one objects to China taking over the non-Democratic world is a very different world from the one that we live in. Nonetheless, in that world it would be a decent idea.
I think you underestimate the effectiveness of authoritarian methods of pacification. There is an enormous difference between the methods the Coalition forces are using in Iraq today, and large scale use of concentration camps, hostage taking for actions against occupying forces and all those other good things. Imagine what Eastern Europe would have looked like during WW2, if German resources weren´t committed fighting the Soviets. Another good analogy is to look at is how things are in Tibet.
If you don’t have ethical qualms there are certainly more effective ways to combat resistances but even the Nazis had a lot of trouble quelling resistance in places with strong national identities (France, mainly but Britain would have been hell to hold on to).
All of this is a lot easier if you’re already at war with most of the world—if you also want to maintain good relations with the developed world there are some pretty firm limits on what you can do. What do you think the reaction of Europe and the Muslim world would have been to the US deciding to annex Iraq and abandon ethical restrictions on their counter insurgency tactics?
It was my belief that the counterfactual was that the rest of world agreed to stand by and allow China to take over all of the non-democratic world. The US would have faced a lot of flack if it decided to annex Iraq, yes. However, the only people who could effectively fight us in a non-Westphalian world are Russia and China. The entire Muslim world could be conquered (in the sense that got George Bush to say “Mission Accomplished”) in less than 2 years. The US, however, would not embrace the tactics necessary to pacify that territory, nor would we be able to raise the number of troops necessary to control the territory. China, on the other hand, has a 2.25 million strong army and the ability to impress far more and to engage in the sorts of tactics that allow actual pacification.
I’m not sure we hold different views then. A world where no one objects to China taking over the non-Democratic world is a very different world from the one that we live in. Nonetheless, in that world it would be a decent idea.