1) The Philippines told the US military to get out, and we complied.
As of 2012, a U.S. military contingent of 600, including Navy Seals and Seabees are stationed "indefinitely" in the Southern Philippines, in a declared non-combatant role to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
2) North Korea stick it to us every chance they get. We throw words back at them.
The United States of America has 28,500 US Army, Navy & Marine combat personnel deployed in the Republic of South Korea. USA military has 7 bases in South Korea which houses the 7th US Air Force, 8th US Army, CNFK (Commander Naval Forces Korea) and MARFORK (Marine Force Korea).
4) Japan conducted secret meetings with North Korea without informing the US.
Japanese attempting to gain some sort of semblance with the lunacy that is North Korea, isn't something that America could oppose. Cuz if it did, then that would be truly be concrete evidence of American hegemony.
5) Japan whitewashes WWII history and say they were victims and not aggressors. We let them get away with it.
Hmm ..... lets see, Japan - a country which invaded foreign lands, pillaged and plundered China, Korea and Philipines for many years and America - the only country who used Nuclear Bomb to mass murder the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Not really a lot to argue with here!
If America's govt turns the other way when Japan tries to hide away its criminal, genocidal acts of the past. That isn't something to claim as non-hegemonic approach by American govt. It's like a criminal chosing to ignore or overlook another criminal's acts of wickedness!
On the same note, just yesterday, it was reported that Britain just wiped out all colonial records of the countries which were attempting to gain independence from the British Imperial Empire, back in 1940s.
Wonder what they wanted to hide from everyone?!
6) We tell Israel to stop building settlements on the West Bank, and they build even more.
I'm sorry ...... you don't tell Israel to stop building settlements on the West Bank, you just let them do it, since majority of your US Congress, Senate and White House is lobbied by Israelis and pro-Israeli Americans in Washington!!
If you really did want to stop Israel from building settlements in the West Bank, then the American govt would halt all military aid to Israel, enforce economic/military sanctions on Israel and have the UN troops deployed in the West Bank. But that is NOT what the American govt wants at all.
I'll say this as politely as I can ..... stop pretending to care for the Palestinians, because the TRUTH is that you don't care at all if Israel demolishes every Palestinian home in the West Bank and expels all Palestinians into the Sinai Desert.
7) The US drew a red line in the sand on chemical weapons in Syria. Assad used them anyway. Assad is still in power, with military backing from Russia and political backing from both Russia and China.
US govt drew the "Red-Line in the sand" and then acted as if there was no red-line when Russia deployed 10 Navy Battle Ships in the Mediterranean Sea!!
I mean come on, do you really think that the American govt would want to tangle into yet another war? And that too with a country like Russia?
8) US got the UN to impose sanctions on Iran, but many nations ignore some of the sanctions. Even our supposed friend and ally France (you might be right if you say France was never our true ally).
France was the country which helped Americans gain independence from Imperial Britain in 1776.
Is it me or you seem to have forgotten your own country's history?
France is also the country which gifted America it's symbol of freedom, i.e Statue of Liberty. If it wasn't for France, then America would've been what Canada is ..... an ever grateful country serving Her Majesty the Queen of England!
And FYI, France is also the country which walked out on the Geneva talks on Iran, because it didn't agree with lifting of any sort of sanctions, imposed on Iran.
Get you facts straight why don't ya!
9) NATO countries (if we could be a hegemony anywhere, this is it!) routinely tell us where and when we could hold military exercises. Our main battle tanks are not allowed in some towns and cities.
There are 69,000 US military personnel in Europe, with 20 US military bases in Germany alone. What does that tell you about Europe? Are they (Europeans) incapable of defending themselves? Does the European Union have little confidence in Euro military hardware?
Or is it that US military is still in Europe
(almost 70 years after WW2 and over 20 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union) because it wants to be in the continent, not because it is needed there!??
The bottom line is the US is a regional hegemony in the Western Hemisphere, but not a global one, and definitely not in Asia.
US Military presence, according to regions around the world:
Europe - 70,000 military personnel
Asia Pacific - 80,000 military personnel
Middle East - 20,000 military personnel
Central Asia - 60,000 military personnel
Still think its not a global one?!!
Of all countries in the world, the Middle Kingdom is the only one that can achieve hegemony in Asia. China knows it, the US knows it, Japan knows it, Taiwan has already bent knees, and South Korea isn't far behind.
The middle kingdom? Is that outta Lord of the Rings?
I say again, the US isn't a hegemony in Asia, and we're not trying to be one.
If you add up Asia Pacific and Central Asia, the total military presence of US is 140,000!
