Is Economic Might proportional to Military Might?

[Paul McKenna]

Lets do the discussing here.

[Matt Cao]

Hi,
Not necessary, you could be a hired gun.
Thanks,
MCao

[R K Singh]

oh ... you should have provided link there
AW I have said what I had to sayhere
I think it depends on lot of factor.
But being Economic Might and not being Military Might will open you for looters.

[Chris Treglio]

Are people looting Japan? They are the second largest economy in the world, and have no military to speak of.

[Anonymous]

Originally posted by Ravish Kumar:
oh ... you should have provided link there
AW I have said what I had to sayhere
I think it depends on lot of factor.
But being Economic Might and not being Military Might will open you for looters.

Japan does not have a substantial military force yet is economically powerfull. However, it is understood that US would help Japan in a crisis.
But the point is well made, and historically accurate, that if you are a rich country you better be able to defend your interests or you will not remain rich.

[Jason Menard]

The claim some of the posters in the other thread seemed to be making was that "strength" meant having nuclear ICBMs.

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by <herb slocomb>:
Japan does not have a substantial military force yet is economically powerfull.

Do I need to tell you why Japan does not have his own Militry and when it had what it did
However, it is understood that US would help Japan in a crisis.
I think by giving all tensions of security to US, Japan could concentrate more on economic development.
Looks like Heroshima brought hidden gift by God to Japan, becasue of which one is able to point out that Japan is second largest economic country without any militry.
Any buyer for Kashmir, Naga, Let, conversion, Ayuodhaya, RSS, ShivSena, BabriActionComette, Modi, caste reservation..........

[vi kam]

Doesnt seem to be the case with Japan.. although slowing economically for some time now, its still considered to be Economically Mighty.
Same is the case with a few other Western European countires like Germany and others. Canada too if you look at North America for that matter.
Although one could probably argue that for the last 50 years or so they (most of these countries) enjoyed protection from the Mightiest of them all (USA).
China is growing its economic might.. it has historically dominated the Asian continent.. most notably since second world war...
India for that matter is trying to become a economic power, its not a very strong country when it comes to military might .. but probably the 2nd mightiest in Asia right next to china
Its probably not a coincidence that most of the strong (both economic and milirary) nations, with the notable exception of japan, were big countries geographically speaking.. Case in point would be USA.
It would be nice to have it all, but the important things i think that need to come together are
Hardworking educated population,
Natural Resources, and a
Secure / stable environment which could be, to a certain extent, guarenteed by military strength
Once again, Japan, i think is a notable exception with natural resource crunch, threatening environment (earthquakes etc ).. nuf said.. volumes were written about Japan's rise and fall (??)..
Interesting discussion that you have started Rajaram.. I was thinking of starting something like this. I found myself thinking about quite a few different related things since the ban on war subjects started.. I have to admit the ban did something (hopefully) good as i started focusing beyond the regular
Pro / Anti war
Culture (clash) of civilizations and the
News coverage by various sources etc topics
I found myself keeping away from MD for the last few weeks .. Had a car accident last week.. first in my life.. after almost 10 years of driving.. with a brand new Mercedes C230.. only a week old ..lets just say that the driver of Mercedes walked away with some new found respect for Mazda
Anyway enough ranting from me .. whass up y'all ...

[R K Singh]

Originally posted by Jason Menard:
..."strength" meant having nuclear ICBMs.

Please dont get confuse with "self defence" to "strength".
And whats wrong in possesing nuclear or any arms, till it is used in self defence or for peaceful purpose.
I would love to see all countries having font size equal. OR even better if that page does not contain any name.
But you see it is not possible because some countries never give up developing new kind of nuclear arms and more precise missiles.
So there will always be rat race for this and true that Font size will also show economic growth.
Without eco growth it would be like taking care of your ulcer.

[vi kam]

Man ... My typing sucks.. By the time i started replying to the post, what should have been only the 2nd reply has become 7th or 8th..
Most guys seem to be pro's .. Ravish you seem to be the famous "Quick Gun Murugan"

[Paul Stevens]

Japan has a larger military than you think. They are number 4 in actual spending at over 50 billion. They also have over 240,000 in the military.
Military sizes.
[ April 17, 2003: Message edited by: Paul Stevens ]

[R K Singh]

Japan has a larger military ExpenditureThey are number 4 in actual spending at over 50 billion.
And Japan is num 24 in Armed forces,
[Edited by ravish to correct the statement ]
With my poor world history knowledge, I was in impression that Japan does not have his own militry after WW-2.
Then how come this Millitry expenditure and Armed forces ??

[Paul Stevens]

Originally posted by Ravish Kumar:
Japan has a larger military ExpenditureThey are number 4 in actual spending at over 50 billion.
And Japan is num 24 in Armed forces,
[Edited by ravish to correct the statement ]
With my poor world history knowledge, I was in impression that Japan does not have his own militry after WW-2.
Then how come this Millitry expenditure and Armed forces ??

Someone pointed it out to me. I didn't know it either. But I do think part of the $$$ expenditure is joint support of US bases in Japan. So the numbers might be a little misleading. But they do have their own Navy etc.

[Ram]

A country decision military expenditure depends on three things
1) How hostile are their neighbour ?
2) How fierce is their Foreign policy ?
3) How much the country has invested in other countries ? and also how favourable is the situation in those countries ?
For instance a country Isreal is surrounded my enemies, so to safe gaurd themselves they have to have a strong military.
Answers to next two questions gives countries like US an excuse to build a high tech military.
[ April 17, 2003: Message edited by: Ram ]

[San Su]

From Paul Stevens link...
Countries military spendings.
Japan ~ 50 billion
Germany ~ 41 billion
South Korea ~ 14 billion
Taiwan ~ 13 billion
Canada ~ 9 billion
Isreal ~ 8.7 billion
India - 7.8 billion...