so what's the deal with the various territories / insular

b-bump

>>72557937
Basically just areas we took over from the Spanish in the early 1900s (Teddy Roosevelt) and islands that we BTFO'd the Japs on in the '40s. We should have kept Panama and the Phillipines though tbqh

>>72557937
Nobody lives on most of them, Guam is just a military base, and Puerto Rico is just like your average spic country

DEPORT ALL PUERTO RICANS

>>72558862
i know most of the minor outlying islands are uninhabited besides a few researchers, but Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands have populations of 50+ thousand.

>>72559005
Guam is over 150K

>>72557937
First line of defense against China.

>>72557937
>so what's the deal with the various territories / insular areas of the united states?

Not much, really. The US conquered them in the 1800s and early 1900s, in the usual colonial way, then more recently we tried giving them self-governance but....they didn't want it. They like being US protectorates and getting public funds from us. It's the same dilemma Britain and France have to deal with.

The problem is that our official commitment to "self-determination" is a terrific way to give up our colonial obligations (suck it Philippines, we've given more money to Japan than you lmao) but it's also incredibly annoying because if these tiny islands keep voting to stay part of the US there is nothing we can do about it.


>>72558826
>Basically just areas we took over from the Spanish in the early 1900s (Teddy Roosevelt) and islands that we BTFO'd the Japs on in the '40s.

Not entirely. Most of the islands were bought or conquered in the normal way (from stupid spear-chucking natives).


>>72559187
Don't be ridiculous. Our first line of defense against China is Japan, SK, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

>>72559250
but have you traveled there and are the women qt?

File: Australian_external_territories.png (14KB, 644x376px) Image search: [Google]

14KB, 644x376px

>>72557937
real countries own islands in the middle of nowhere

>>72559357
I went to the Virgin Islands once. They are fat as fuck there. I mean, dear god. it's ridiculous. They make the USA look like Austria. So goddamn fat. Also I've fucked with some boricuas in my younger days. Or maybe they were Dominicans, or even Cubans.

I gotta be honest with you, we all sound basically the same. Big tits on the women, big egos on the men, a complete disregard for grammar all around.

>>72559250
>Vietnam

I thought they were commie, wouldn't they side with us? Also your forgetting Philippines. If i'm not mistaken there's a large U.S. military base located there.

>>72560084
Wouldn't they side with china*

>>72560084
>I thought they were commie, wouldn't they side with us

Are you kidding? We gave Vietnam MFN trading status 20 years ago. We leaned on the World Bank to give them huge loans, and their economy has really taken off. Also, remember how China invaded their country in the 1970s? The Vietnamese recognize that the US is the lesser of two evils.

>Also your forgetting Philippines. If i'm not mistaken there's a large U.S. military base located there.

I am deliberately omitting the Philippines. Their new President has dramatically changed things, we can't trust them anymore.

>>72560084
>>72560103
vietnam has longstanding animosity with the chinese

>>72560084
>Vietnam
>side with China
>ever

You want to know how I know that your high school history teacher never covered this in class?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War

Nutty shit, isn't it? China and Vietnam hate one another. Historically, like in ancient times, China controlled Vietnam. They decided to give it another shot. They kept fighting until the 1990s. Vietnam hates and fears China, as they should.

>>72560084
>>72560164
*To put it another way:

The foreign policy of every single East Asian country has boiled down to one thing, and one thing only: Which superpower is less likely to screw us?

And the way they have determined this is traditionally by distance. This is why China chose us over the Soviets. Ironically, it's also why China's neighbors started choosing us after the Soviets collapsed.

>>72560164
Your right about that.. I was never taught about that war, just the Vietnam war.