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<blockquote data-quote="Dave_W" data-source="post: 189483" data-attributes="member: 9521">Every country acts in their own self interest. These days it's much less obvious than it was in the 1950's. Now we have the IMF and other such organizations that openly force change in the guise of economic reform. I read a book not long ago by Niall Ferguson (he's a very interesting author with some extremely new ways of looking at modern history. His book &quot;The War of the World&quot; is an excellent book explaining WWI and WWII in a completely new light. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in hearing a view never before considered) &quot;Colossus - The Rise and Fall of the American Empire&quot; in which he claims that the reason Great Britain ultimately failed is because taking over a country and running it is far more difficult and expensive compared to economic subjugation. Setting up a puppet government and then loaning it massive amounts of money so that the country is permanently strapped with debt is far better than actually making that country a colony, as in the old British way of doing business. Btw, Niall Ferguson is not very popular with many of the people who like their history to be a straight line in time so pay no attention to the many negative reviews of his work and instead give it a read and make your own opinion on his subject material. Even if you don't fully agree with his views it is always instructive to hear a new point of view on subjects you thought were settled and unchangeable.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dave_W, post: 189483, member: 9521"] Every country acts in their own self interest. These days it's much less obvious than it was in the 1950's. Now we have the IMF and other such organizations that openly force change in the guise of economic reform. I read a book not long ago by Niall Ferguson (he's a very interesting author with some extremely new ways of looking at modern history. His book "The War of the World" is an excellent book explaining WWI and WWII in a completely new light. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in hearing a view never before considered) "Colossus - The Rise and Fall of the American Empire" in which he claims that the reason Great Britain ultimately failed is because taking over a country and running it is far more difficult and expensive compared to economic subjugation. Setting up a puppet government and then loaning it massive amounts of money so that the country is permanently strapped with debt is far better than actually making that country a colony, as in the old British way of doing business. Btw, Niall Ferguson is not very popular with many of the people who like their history to be a straight line in time so pay no attention to the many negative reviews of his work and instead give it a read and make your own opinion on his subject material. Even if you don't fully agree with his views it is always instructive to hear a new point of view on subjects you thought were settled and unchangeable. [/QUOTE]

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