Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "Japan Is (Again) Becoming a Military Powerhouse" video.

  1.  @steelcrown7130  The UK and Australia have little choice, Australia needs to keep the US onside which means Australia more or less has to bend to the will of the US and that's becoming more the case with a rising China. The UK is a bit different that didn't have to bend to the will of the US but many see the UK as weak as a poodle of the US, even many in the UK see that and that position is very likely more exposed with Brexit. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean the UK and Australia are not useful to the US but it's pretty much on the terms of what the US wants and not the other way around, that also means US interest, something we don't really see much with other European countries like Germany or France which are willing to have their own voice on matters, the Iraqi war was a prime example of that, something 70% of the British public didn't support but the government had to fall in line with the US. The irony is, with European countries rearming again, the EU could become the US more important friend, especially if EU countries pool their resources together.
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  2. The more hostile China becomes around the world, the more important it's going to be for the EU and US to stick together to contain China, with the EU and US together, it will bring a lot of other countries into the fold that don't like what China is trying to do. There are issues thought, the EU or US on their own are not likely going to be big enough to contain China if China keeps growing in economic might, both the EU and US together likely can, especially because with both of them onboard, a lot of other countries will side with them. For me, the real issue is the EU, it's got the economic might to become a military superpower but the members in it are pulling in different directions that weaken its voice and we are seeing part of that with everything that is going on in Ukraine. Basically, the EU members needs to pool more of its military and forign policy through the EU if they really want to become more effective on the world stage and it's needed because with a growing China, the US isn't going to be able to shoulder the burden of that on its own. India could be another one but I feel with India, the more it's power grows, the more hostile the country is becoming, so how useful they are going to be to protecting the peace long term is hard to say, personally, I have more faith in the EU and US with other allies following their lead.
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  3.  @Niclaas1999  That's not true, in pretty much any western country, the public can and do criticize governments, they can protest and have freedom of expression, good luck doing some of that in Russia or China when people are fearful of what they say because of what the government might do to them. Besides, the reason the west is so successful is because the people in those countries are more free to do as they want, that creates a lot of ideas and economic growth compared to countries that are less free. Now don't get me wrong, western countries are no saints, they do a lot of bad things as well but compared to many other countries like Russia and China, western countries are far better and it's easy to see because a lot of people from around the world want to live in those countries.
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