Quote Originally Posted by Ray View Post
If the American culture and all it stands for is negotiable (everything, that is), then would it be correct to surmise that it is not based on principle, morality or resolve? Everything is up for the grabs?

I wonder if such a culture could have made the US as powerful as it is today.

I find it rather odd that the US would for the fear of a conflict with China, hand over Hawaii to the Chinese 25 years hence.

Would Alaska go the same way to avoid risk of a conflict with Russia?

Why forget the French and the Spanish. They might be embolden to ask for the return of their territories.

Too imaginative, I would say.

I am surprised that Iraq and Afghanistan could break the will of a nation as powerful as the US!
Who (which generations) built the US? Everyone under (say) 50 years rode in on the coat-tails of the efforts and sacrifices of those who passed before.

Make no mistake there are still many fine Americans but their voices are being increasingly drowned out. In my generation we had a minority who maintained it was "better to be red than dead" and that type of thinking is now close to the majority view in the US (sadly).

I thought I would leave it at Hawaii but what is the geographical connection of Alaska to the US? Add 15-20 years to the hand over of Hawaii and you will see the fate of Alaska being negotiated. After all Alaska is closer to Russia than the US (and if you apply current US logic like with the Falklands/Malvinas) and the US should agree to hand Alaska back to Russia by the latest (say) 2050 if not before.

Right now there will be an emotional rejection to the thought of giving up Alaska and maybe Hawaii but this will pass...

The French and the Spanish (like the Brits) are already burnt out and what we are seeing with the US is the last kicks of a dying horse. Sad but true.

The US have always had a short attention span and thus they have never been able to make the long term commitment to hold an "empire" together. That is why the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been able so debilitating and divisive to the American people.

I often wonder where the average American thinks the oil will come from if the US "looses" Saudi Arabia and control over the applicable shipping routes?

...and what will the increasing Hispanic influence in the US have on foreign policy over the next 20 years? Beyond the average American attention span to contemplate I know but total Anglo domination is on the way out and that will bring changes...