No Country Is An Island

Day 868, 15:27 • Published in USA Canada • by Buck Roger
Okay,... the next article, in a few hours, will have the promised article on exports!
Sometimes the inspiration hits me, and I just can't wait to push publish.



No country is an island entire of itself; every country
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any country's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in a brotherhood of nations.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
- John Donne, adapted

This is a lesson that Phoenix has embraced to the fullest but which their enemies, the USA included, have not. When South Africa was destroyed, all of its allies became weaker. If Norway is destroyed, all of its allies become weaker, and when North Korea or Switzerland become property of Shaolin, again the same happens.

Whatever new configuration of alliances takes place, know this one fact that Phoenix has proven again and again: "if you are not with us, you are against us." Therefore, the might of your country and your allies must equal that of the attacking pressure that they can put upon you.

Every country with a large population should be engaged in two principal activities for their defense that are infinitely cheaper and much more effective, in the long term, than direct warfare.

- Media campaigns and diplomatic negotiations that improve the image and relationships of the country with all of its allies, current and potential.
- Takeover operations, whether styled PTO or ATO, to secure the interests of the larger country in all of the smaller countries that are on "the continent" of interest to it.

For the USA, that ball has been dropped in South Africa and Norway, among others. It may soon be dropped again in Philippines, India, or South Africa if action is not taken. The lessons are the same for any other country, with suitable changes of the names.

Any resident of the smaller countries should also be opening up talks with those from which they wish to receive ATO assistance or making international appeal and offsite recruitment to develop the "native" base of the country, or both.

These are also all the same reasons why, when military action takes place, the defense of your allies and their interests are of interest to you also.

Your alliances should be treated as worth more than iron or gold. History has shown that the same bridges that take months to build can be burned with a few choice words. Do not repeat that history.