Question is in the title. Explain your reasoning with a post.

A group of my friends had a discussion about this topic this weekend.

I think it goes without saying that every country on this list wants the USA as an ally.

(Ignore the other thread; I posted the poll wrong so that it only allowed you to pick one option)

nuts goes with "see other thread"...

I went with almost all of them except for NATO countries not named Poland. I don't care if the Russians overrun Europe.

Okay, first one to vote on this one. My reasoning.

Canada - they're being difficult as of late but allying with them goes with the Monroe Doctrine and securing NA and Western Hem
Japan - Strongest Asian nation not named China and who is a natural ally in thwarting China's goals
Taiwan - China's opponent and CHIPS
ME (SA and UAE) - Work with these 2 in order to help control the ME and ultimately much influence in the world

I'm not saying to oppose anyone on this list. But our major strategic objectives with Europe have largely diverged. They don't seem to think that a nuclear armed Iran with missiles capable of hitting their cities along with China trying to control the world is a big deal. Be friendly of course - but don't get entangled in their interests.

We need allies. Going it alone is foolhardy.

But which ones? It's a tough pick for me.

For competence to help us, the top picks are Scandinavia, Japan, France, and Poland. Followed by the UK, Australia, Israel, and Germany.

For least likely to get us into a regional war where we'd have to deploy ground troops, the top picks are Canada, Australia, the UK, and Japan. And maybe India (they're a lot bigger than their neighbors) and Scandinavia. Points against Taiwan in this category.

For cultural allies who won't actively oppose our interests, Japan and Poland are clearly the top 2, followed by Australia, the UAE, South Korea, and maybe Scandinavia. Points against India and Israel on this one because they view allies as "you help me but I don't owe you anything."

So that puts Japan and Australia as clear 1 and 2 for me. Taking them as allies means de facto taking Korea and Taiwan, who are crucial to their security.

Do we also put a foot in Europe? I shudder to think of a world where Poland's culture gets bulldozed by the EU because we didn't stick up for them. And the Scandinavians, Brits, and Poles have made meaningful contributions to American wars in the past few decades. But is there a way to stick up for those allies without massively subsidizing the defense of the whole EU?

Do we also put a foot in the Middle East? The UAE and Saudi are obscenely rich, and if we spurn them they will turn to other powers for protection. Or they'll develop their own nukes, which is a terrifying thought due to the appeal of Jihad in poor areas of those countries.

Russia and China. Divide everything equally, redrawn borders, make the Middle East a prison colony, make Africa a jointly owned resource continent that is equally owned.

(04-28-2026 09:51 AM)banker Wrote:  Russia and China. Divide everything equally, redrawn borders, make the Middle East a prison colony, make Africa a jointly owned resource continent that is equally owned.

Poland, Hungary, Japan, SK, Taiwan, Saudis, Israel and UAE.
Canada, I guess just because they are next door. Military allies only.

Maybe in the future... This may sound crazy... Russia. We have more in common with them than we don't. That also really isolates China.

We should be allies with ALL of them; BUT it must be on equal terms. Give and take, not give or take.

The US should not carry the UN's budget
The US should not carry the WHO's budget
Trade contracts should not be effing-over the US nor the other way around

The ultimate goal of the world should be for all the inhabitants of the world to live how they choose to live. If place like Iran want to be oppressive, fine, just stay in Iran. If Muslims want to be Muslim; fine, stay in your regions and do it there.

If people want to live by your rules and standards, let them go to you to live like that; do not bring your ideology to other countries and try to convert them to yours.

No one.

We should just conquer them all.

(04-28-2026 10:01 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  We should be allies with ALL of them; BUT it must be on equal terms. Give and take, not give or take.

The US should not carry the UN's budget
The US should not carry the WHO's budget
Trade contracts should not be effing-over the US nor the other way around

The ultimate goal of the world should be for all the inhabitants of the world to live how they choose to live. If place like Iran want to be oppressive, fine, just stay in Iran. If Muslims want to be Muslim; fine, stay in your regions and do it there.

If people want to live by your rules and standards, let them go to you to live like that; do not bring your ideology to other countries and try to convert them to yours.

We don't get to make that choice. Both sides have to want it.

That's sort of the point. Should we be allies with people who will demand a lot from us, without giving us anything in return?

"The ultimate goal of the world should be for all the inhabitants of the world to live how they choose to live. If place like Iran want to be oppressive, fine, just stay in Iran. If Muslims want to be Muslim; fine, stay in your regions and do it there." Eldonabe

That sounds good in paper but Iran doesn't want to live in peace, they want to bring their god to everyone.

Not one south american/central American country listed?

I'm voting to add ARGENTINA, EL SALVADOR, and a new Veneuzela (hopefully)

And then Poland, Hungary (although with their new leadership.. we'll have to see), Taiwan, Japan, and the non-"Death to America" middle eastern countries.
And then just be careful and watch Turkey..

Only one I didn't pick was India.

(04-28-2026 10:07 AM)olliebaba Wrote:  "The ultimate goal of the world should be for all the inhabitants of the world to live how they choose to live. If place like Iran want to be oppressive, fine, just stay in Iran. If Muslims want to be Muslim; fine, stay in your regions and do it there." Eldonabe

That sounds good in paper but Iran doesn't want to live in peace, they want to bring their god to everyone.

If they want to bring their ideas outside of their own borders, they can and should face the consequences.

All of them. Why wouldn't you want as many allies as possible?

(04-28-2026 06:06 AM)TigerBlue4Ever Wrote:  I went with almost all of them except for NATO countries not named Poland. I don't care if the Russians overrun Europe.

You should. Europe is probably our biggest export market. Our economy would crash if they were overrun. Clearly Russia isn't capable of doing so though, thankfully.

All of them.

(04-28-2026 01:24 PM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  Not one south american/central American country listed?

I'm voting to add ARGENTINA, EL SALVADOR, and a new Veneuzela (hopefully)

And then Poland, Hungary (although with their new leadership.. we'll have to see), Taiwan, Japan, and the non-"Death to America" middle eastern countries.
And then just be careful and watch Turkey..

The polls on this site only let you put a max of 16 choices.

Panama is the obvious #1. It's the #1 most important country when it comes to ensuring that their government is friendly to the USA (even arguably more than Canada). And the people there strongly support us.

But I didn't Panama in the poll because it's tiny, and because its future will always be tied to the USA regardless of whether it's an ally or not.


Argentina under the current regime - sure. But Argentina has too many Peronists for me to be okay with selling them with military equipment.

(04-28-2026 01:24 PM)DaSaintFan Wrote:  Not one south american/central American country listed?

I'm voting to add ARGENTINA, EL SALVADOR, and a new Veneuzela (hopefully)

And then Poland, Hungary (although with their new leadership.. we'll have to see), Taiwan, Japan, and the non-"Death to America" middle eastern countries.
And then just be careful and watch Turkey..

yep ... #furtherDevelopOurHemisphere ... was my point in the first thread and post #2 in this thread...