----- Original Message ----- From: "Devine, James" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > this is the standard way that the US imperialists see it: the US provides > "international public goods" from which the other countries -- including the > totally dominated ones -- benefit. The countries that don't go along (e.g., > deGaulle's France, Schroeder's Germany) are "free riders." As in the usual > public goods story, if the state (read: the US) doesn't get some payment > from the beneficiaries (the other countries), the public good is not just > under-produced but can go away altogether. So coercion (taxes) are > justified. > Jim ==================== Hence the current obsession by US weapons makers securing comparative advantage via "interoperability" "harmonization" on weapons systems procured by NATO countries. In the absence of the ability of the US to tax other states "we" demand that they make budget commitments, like Lithuania buying $34 million worth of Stingers that they don't need. Ian
