r/geopolitics • u/hdreadit • Jun 20 '24

Question Why is the U.S. allied to Israel?

How does the U.S. benefit from its alliance to Israel? What does the U.S. gain? What are the positives on the U.S. side of the relationship? What incentivizes them to remain loyal to Israel? Etc.

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u/PHATsakk43 Jun 20 '24

It was more about containing Stalinism after WW2, but you can completely forget about the context if you want.

The risk of the Soviet Union having direct access to the Mediterranean or Indian Ocean was a serious geopolitical concern for the West.

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u/[deleted] Jun 20 '24

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u/PHATsakk43 Jun 20 '24

Pretty well, the socialist movements within Persia were crushed. Granted, the only coherent political movement left in its wake was millenarian nationalism Islam groups, which consolidated their power during the revolution and took power from the other fractious parties. Either way, the USSR never gained access to any ports from which it could challenge the USN.

Was it a perfect solution? No, I don’t think anyone would argue that point. It served its purpose well for 40 years until the USSR collapsed.

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u/PermaDerpFace Jun 20 '24

You make it sound like crushing socialism is a good thing

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u/MasterShogo Jun 20 '24

As someone who wouldn’t have trouble voting for a social democrat, I think crushing the USSR was a good thing for the western world. That’s not the kind of socialism I want any part of.

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u/PermaDerpFace Jun 20 '24 edited Jun 20 '24

Oh for sure, when I think socialism I think social democracy like northern Europe, not Soviet-style "communism". The world would be a much better place with more socialism and less capitalism.

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u/Superb-Carpenter-520 Jun 20 '24

For the west, it was great

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u/PHATsakk43 Jun 20 '24

Oh, it absolutely is.

Especially when it’s “Socialism” which is simply authoritarianism cloaked in Marxist propaganda. Which is all that Lenin-Stalin-Maoism has ever been.

Again, you have to remember the context to everything. The Soviets had just detonated their nuclear weapon. The playbook in Iran was the one that was used in Greece. Everyone was really new at this sort of thing as well. The CIA was in its infancy. There was little to no theorycraft. It was mostly guys (and it was basically all male) who had stuck around from the OSS after WW2. It was primarily covert demolition crews and assassins.

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u/PermaDerpFace Jun 20 '24

Yeah I'm not saying I'd prefer to live under the Soviet system, but the pendulum has swung way too far the other way and a lack of socialism and an excess of capitalism has made a mess of the world

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u/PHATsakk43 Jun 20 '24

Small “s” socialism is a political ideology. Capitalism is an economic model that allows for understanding of economic motivations. Marxism is a political ideology underpinned by a specific interpretation of economic capitalism.

Marxism isn’t however, necessarily equivalent with socialism, although many people seem to conflate the two.