Who was America's most formidable foe?

That's like saying Rome was brought to its knees during the late republic with civil wars and people like Sulla and Caeser. It was shaken but in the end one side that was still American/Roman prevailed.

1. Britain
They were the world's most powerful empire by far and in fact they even burned the white house at a given point. It was clearly the most powerful enemy the US ever had considering power relative to the age. If they hadn't allowed colonists to keep their fire arms after the 7 years war, I think the possibility of failure of US attemp at independence might have been increased very significantly.

2. USSR
The communists technically single handledly destroyed the nazis, they were the ones who took Berlin. They were the largest country on Earth, they plotted and schemed in evil ways and communism was spreading a lot of places. The Cold War was an extremely delicated period for both sides. To me it's really outstanding how both sides managed to keep up with each other for such a long time without giving it up. I think the word fear could express the envorinment of US congress for most of the cold war.

3. Japan
If they had won a couple battles here and there, if a few operations weren't delayed in terms of a few hours, in other words, if you change a few details along the detorriment of the pacific threathre of WW2, a lot of things could have been different. japan's strategy was very sound, and they managed to conquer a shit ton of clay and water before they started collapsing over themselves.

4. islamic terrorism
it's basically fucking hard to fight it, specially when the more you fight it, the more of it you breed. i think its unpredictable business, that is extremely hard to eliminate and moreover, it costs a lot of money, it is disturbing to public opinion and media is always all over it. i dont think the issue of islamic terrorism will be solved in possibly the next 100 years. in fact, it may grow to the point that something like ISIS gets international recognition.

5. nazi germany
disconsidering the fact that hitler was dumb and germany was pretty much doomed from the start, its esentially very scary to think of a world where germany conquers all of europe in its national socialist project, and whilst they certainly wouldn't be able to invade the US, even by then, they could theorically control atlantic and cut off americans from trade within its eastern coast. of course, this is all hypothetic

6. german empire
they never had anything against americans to start with, and the idea they could withstand american military power in europe is pathetic, let alone the possibility of it conquering the US

not going to say anything about the confederacy because i dont know of the civil war in depth

Wrong, it's the Irish.

>islamic terrorism
This isnt an actual meaningful threat to anything, except maybe the EU

Let me guess, you also think 9/11 was an inside job?

but they've already won

It's more important as a perceived threat than an actual threat.

The Jews obviously.

>1. Britain
>They were the world's most powerful empire by far and in fact they even burned the white house at a given point.

I hate this shit.
When Britain and America were at war Britain wasn't the worlds most powerful empire. They only became ascendant during the Victorian era, after they'd fought the civil war and the war of 1812.
The Americans didn't fight the world's most powerful empire. It's about as retarded as saying the Etruscans fought the world's most powerful empire when fighting Rome, even though the Romans wouldn't reach that point for a long time.

9/11 wasn't a meaningful threat to anything either, inside job or not. It killed a bunch of people, that's it. Osama had no ability to actually threaten the united states besides scaring some people.

>3. Japan
>japan's strategy was very sound,
No it fucking wasn't, It all was based on extremely elaborate attempts at deception which were designed to provoke a very specific tactical reaction. Even if our electronic warfare capability weren't leagues ahead of theirs, the US Navy would have to have been pants on head retarded to have allowed them to create a supply route from the Pacific to the West Coast--needed for invasion. Also, don't forget that even 40 years before World War 2 the US was the wealthiest, most industrially powerful country on the world. Given the leadership that we had at time, there is no realistic way that Japan could have won the war, not even through a massive advantage in initiative.

>implying that Britain didn't have a world class military and wasn't a force to be reckoned with

If Pakistan went under the tubes in the early 2000's he could have (chance still being small though). It's not good to let a figure like that linger for too long. It's amazing what people can get away with when they are unopposed, and if Osama had a Nuke I guaranty he would have used one. MAD don't mean shit to an Islamic terrorist.

>All the armies of Europe and Asia could not by force take a drink from the Ohio river or make a track on the blue ridge in the trial of a thousand years. If destruction be our lot, it must come from within.
- A. Lincoln

Most people have no idea how close a thing the Civil War actually came to tearing the US apart in the early years. The South came INSANELY close to successfully breaking Union resolve in the early years of the war, and if they had captured Washington they would have almost certainly received recognition from Britain and France, which would have given them the means to fight as long as need be to gain independence.

The Confederacy came within mere inches of tearing apart the Union before the US could really develop and take off as a country.

>Be Britain
>Colony is rebelling
>Take forever to do actually do something about
>Get your shit kicked in by the French

German Empire? When were they ever enemies to the US?

When those duplicitous krauts decided to support Mexican claims to the southwest in the event America joined WW1.

Really?

>Which one of them got the closest to bring us to our knees?
England or the CSA.
England got the closest in 1812 with the burning of the white house and the general beating the shit out of the American military, the CSA had a chance but massively whiffed it.

3. Japan
If they had won a couple battles here and there, if a few operations weren't delayed in terms of a few hours, in other words, if you change a few details along the detorriment of the pacific threathre of WW2, a lot of things could have been different. japan's strategy was very sound, and they managed to conquer a shit ton of clay and water before they started collapsing over themselves.

Uh, no. What close fought victory or operation would have saved Japan from getting shit on? The Battle of Midway happened less than six months after Pearl Harbor. I'll grant you a few moments of indecision swung the battle in America's favor, but it was an American trap that worked. It would have been a major coup if Japan had managed to fight to a draw, hardly how you framed it. And regardless of what happened to the American surface fleet, the allied submarine force neutralized any gains Japan made regardless if they maintained possession of their captured territories for another 6 months to a year.

TLDR; Japan's strategy was shit, no amount of execution would have changed the outcome.

They should have never attacked Pearl Harbor, still attacked the Dutch East Indies, and Malaysia and tried to sue for some sort of peace with a United States with a viable isolationist party.

>They should have never attacked Pearl Harbor, still attacked the Dutch East Indies, and Malaysia and tried to sue for some sort of peace with a United States with a viable isolationist party.
Japan wanted the Philippines, that would mean a fight with the US if they cowed the US into not fighting then they can take all of South East Asia relatively safely.

> Which one of them got the closest to bring us to our knees?
But you are your knees already.

But China isn't in ops image.

>Soviets saved Allied Ass
Germany could have easily invaded US had they not attacked USSR

>Germany could have easily invaded US had they not attacked USSR
Not even in their wildest imaginations, they did not have the navy or the air power to compete with the United States.
Even if the Brits had fallen you know Churchill would have told the entire Royal Navy to goto the colonies and continue the fight rather then submit to Germany.

> Not even in their wildest imaginations, they did not have the navy or the air power to compete with the United States.
He was shitposting.

Initial post was talking about potential post-war situation. I.e. (lukewarm) Cold War, but against Nazis. Also, fleet is not worth anything without supplies. Royal Navy would've went to US because colonies simply don't have resources to support it.

Diabetes.

Why u don't put this flag?

That might imply that Americans are not WINNERS

>They should have never attacked Pearl Harbor, still attacked the Dutch East Indies, and Malaysia and tried to sue for some sort of peace with a United States with a viable isolationist party.
This was not an option and the idea that US was isolationist is a post-war myth created by John Wayne movies.
Anyway the idea that the US would sit by as another nation militarily attacks its interests is absolutely moronic.

Let's also not forget that FDR was looking for any reason to get a war with Germany.

Are you suggesting the British would lie to advance their own interests?

Britain didn't even have an empire when they fought the U.S in the 1770s. The British Empire only began in earnest really in the mid-19th century.

The whole
>plucky rebels fight the evil empire
Meme is based on a certain tinted view of historical events.

the UK easily, the americans fought two wars against the british, the first was won only through massive french intervention and a lack of public support in britain, the second against a severely distracted britain was at best a draw and arguably a defeat, as it led to the US merchant fleet being devasted, washington being burnt, and all US attempts to conquer canada being crushed, and a return to the status quo ante bellum as the peace deal, which was the british but not the american desire.

Britain, since they,re the only one that could have beat them had they tried harder and focused on the americas

This is awesome, I have now heard Brits say
>we were too busy keeping the part of the Empire we cared about, like India! We didn't even try!
and
>We weren't even that strong so it's not even impressive, dumb amerifats think legislating equality and overthrowing a major colonial power was important! LOL!

Britain was actually pretty weak at that time, and America had the support of two countries more powerful than Brits (France and Spain)
It was none of that "global superpower vs militia" propaganda pop culture sells you

Still it's probably the enemy that came the closest from beating them since the US were much more prepared and developped in their later wars
I think Japan could have earned the spot if they hadn't been so pants on head retarded in the Pacific War

>and a lack of public support in britain

This meme really has to stop
Same with guerrilla bullshit
The US Revolution wasn't the Vietnam War in any way

Public support meant jackshit back then (90% of the pop wasn't even aware of what happened across the ocean) and the British army got it's ass kicked from America fair and square despite trying its outmost for almost a decade

I'd argue that besides the civil war (which I'll disqualify as it's america v america) and the war on terror, America only grew stronger as a result of fighting the others.

>Britain

Gained national identity, and independence.

>WWI

America breaks isolationism, expands military, and gains experience/recognition on the international scale.

>WWII

America emerges as a superpower, virtually no damage, and no rebuilding to do.

>Cold War

A period of technological advances, and further cementing of America as the world police/superpower.

> War on terror

America obviously past it's prime, massive public dissent and widespread anti war sentiment. America accused of being imperialist. Terror attacks terrify population, and brings infringement of personal freedoms. Wars in the middle east have no defined objective, and are long and hard wars. If america were ever on her knees, it'd be now.

Dixie.

Dixie got America to stab herself in the gut repeatedly by refusing to give up "MUH OWNERSHIP OF PPL RIGHTS."

Where do you faggots even get these images?

the CSA
realistically the war of 1812 was the only other significant war for the US and I would consider it more of a broken offensive than a complete destruction of the homeland, like the civil war.

>Result of War of 1812
>Status Quo antebellum
Not entirely true actually.

The first treaty ending the war was literally status quo antebellum, but the battle of New Orleans gave the US enough political leverage to get several concessions out of the British. The US was able to stop the press-ganging of it's merchant sailors, they gained certain territories in the (then) North West like Fort Detroit and Wisconsin, they got co-rule of Oregon and Washington territories, and perhaps most importantly, the British forgave the massive war indemnity the US was supposed to pay after the Revolutionary war, which had never actually been paid.

These were relatively small gains honestly, but they were all important US war goals that were achieved by the ending of negotiations.

The War of 1812 was also an important psychological victory, as it established that the US could not only fight and survive a war against a major European power, but they could even achieve a measure of success. It also paradoxically put us on better terms with England (though by no means perfect) because both sides managed to settle a ton of issues unsolved by the Revolutionary war.

>America breaks isolationism
And then immediately reverts to it, until FDR goes full war monger against Germany.

Americans are America's biggest threat

it only makes sense, once you've reached America's level, only you can stop yourself

Not trying to go all 'Murrica on you, but the Cuban Missile Crisis was probably the last chance the U.S. had to emerge from WWIII as the decided victor.

Not him but the very fact that there could be a world war with nuclear weapons puts the soviets as the biggest threat, no matter who wins.

McDonalds

mexico

IIRC it was a meme that originated in /leftpol/ to make satirize the Jewish conspiracy.

The correct answer is Nazi Germany.

I don't believe in the meme that states that the Soviet Union was the main enemy. There could never have been a fighting war betwixt the Soviet SSR and the United States of America.

Also, I find it laughable that ISIS and the Cuntfederacy are on there.

there is no national threat to the us, greater than something that could divide it, which is itself.

no foreign power has the armament to compete with the us.

actually on second thought, the greatest threat to the US and to the rest of the world is climate change.

> There could never have been a fighting war betwixt the Soviet SSR and the United States of America.
Are you absolutely sure about that?

Imperial Germany and what I guess is ISIS, or Muslim extremism in general, whatever, shouldn't even be on there.
The US practically didn't even participate in WW1, and wasn't ever directly threatened by Germany.
Muslim extremists blow up some shit once in a while, but did it ever nearly bring the US to it's knees? The same can maybe be said for Nazi Germany, but if the Nazis defeated the British they could actually have become a threat.

Why does there need to be more than one /pol/, one's enough of a nuisance with their shit being everywhere.

/leftypol/ is even more annoying imo just because they replace being retarded and angry with being retarded and smug, and i get the feeling that more of them are completely serious

>the more you fight it, the more of it you breed
Please refrain from attempting to think about politics in the future.

>what is isis

>The US was able to stop the press-ganging of it's merchant sailors
firstly that never actually happened, and secondly the stopping and seizing of british naval deserters aboard american merchant ships while legitimate and legal was stopped prior to the war although still claimed as casus belli by the idiot hawks in the american government who wanted to take canada

>The more you fight it, the more you breed it
Yes, that's how it works when you fight against yourself

Where there is power, there is resistance

Vietnam has already killed us.

When the rest of the world outside Europe at that stage is still throwing sticks at one another for the most part that's not hard to achieve.

The British "Empire" at that stage was pretty much just the Thirteen Colonies. The shitposting "muh empire" map we always post in dick waving threads literally didn't exist until less than 100 years ago.

Even during the 19th century when Britain was the de facto world power the British Empire wasn't as big as it was in this image.

>Who was America's most formidable foe?
American stupidity.

For it is only an American who would look up to the likes of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson while wearing a "thin blue line" t-shirt and advocating the defense of israel by the US. Furthermore, the American looks up to Reagan while saying he is a member of the NRA. He also claims "socialism is demonic", while he constantly advocates for a stronger police force and military, while claiming taxation is "a necessary evil". Finally, he goes to church every sunday yet is visibly excited about the thought of dropping bombs on the remnants of Christian communities living in the middle east.

> world Jewry
> America's """foe"""

Obesity, black penises, and itself

>Press ganging never happened!
Source
>Seizing of British Naval Deserters is legal!
According to the British, who do not get to dictate what is and is not legitimate
>Press ganging stopped prior to the war!
Then how could have "never actually happened" ?

Japan's strategy was actually their best option. The US was going to beat them down via logistics and embargoes if the Japanese hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor. The more you read about Japan pre-Pearl Harbor the more you realize they had their backs against the wall and had no other option but to strike.

Taking the Dutch East Indies and Malaysia wouldn't have kept the United States uninterested, not to mention to safely get to these island chains they needed the Philippines. And what peace settlement are you going to give the United States? What did the Japanese have to offer?

On the other hand, if you destroy the American fleet and smash through their holdings in the Pacific you stand a better chance at victory.

Explain in any way how the US is "on its knees"

> I get the feeling none of them are completely serious.

Welcome to poe's law and 90% of the human race

As much as I often loathe my fellow countrymen, we Americans are much more complex than you are making out. I have yet to meet one person holding all those opinions simultaneously, and there are in fact large swathes of people who find most of those opinions abhorrent.

I'd be delighted, the economy is fixed and if you notice each day that gold goes up the Dow goes down, each day gold gets suppressed the Dow gets propped up. Fractional reserve banking and the federal reserve in general just don't work. Not to mention the meetings back in early 2016 between our president, VP, and the he a of the federal reserve behind closed doors that we still have no minutes on. Take your pick bro, but this country has been fucked, petrodollar dies and nothing is propping this shit up anymore.

American "conservatives" believe exactly what I described. They simply mask it as the truth would hurt them. And don't get me wrong, the American left is just as bad.

US policy regarding US deserters is and has always been the same, if and when found they are subject to arrest and to being forced to serve their term normally in a military prison

orders to stop the stopping and searching of US vessels for deserters were given 3 weeks before the declaration, press ganging never happened, searching for deserters did.

Missing the Vietnamese flag there buddy.

Because they weren't a threat to us, we were a threat to them and we failed at that.

You want Grenada in there too?

Even as someone who despises /leftypol/, at least it has good theory. It is simply a false equivalence to treat it as being as bad as /pol/. They have their similarities, but /leftypol/'s shit at least doesn't stink, whereas /pol/ and most of the rest of the politics on the chans does.

proxy war between pol and leftypol.
it's people like you who caused this by banning pol threads allowing leftypol to foster

We have less mods than /asp/

his is a joke compared to leftypol

Begorrah the Sassernach knows, shut it down me fellow micks

Don't forget that the French hired a Prussian to train the Continental army the art of war.

/leftypol/ is actually suprisingly well read, memes aside. shitposting is mostly now contained to /leftyb/

The confederates I say, I mean, that's the bloodiest USA war in all its history in absolute and relative deaths.

After that the south went down to a hole which they never really escaped.

The Vietnamese almost sent them bankrupt.
And they were a fucking developing nation

They won't beat them militarily obviously, but they can always bankrupt them. That's what the Taliban did to the Soviets

>America obviously past it's prime, massive public dissent and widespread anti war sentiment. America accused of being imperialist. Terror attacks terrify population, and brings infringement of personal freedoms. Wars in the middle east have no defined objective, and are long and hard wars. If america were ever on her knees, it'd be now.
Ah, the MAGA meme...

America is greater than it's ever been. Our sphere of influences is larger than ever before. Our economy is larger than ever before. There's no competing super power. We have to look so far down the hill to even see the next runner up we practically need binoculars. And with the next largest economic block that was the EU falling into shambles, that's becoming even more true. On top of that, our military and political power is absolutely without peer.

Looking back through history, there is no point where America was greater or more powerful.

Granted, there's this whole sword of Damocles hovering over our heads and we're standing on a house of cards, but as a result of this power, the rest of the world is even more so. Ironically, America is in the best position to bounce back from an American collapse.

...with 500 billion worth of aid from the US, funneled mostly through Israel.