A Nuclear Option Analogy

[GiovanniC]

In my mind I've been going back and forth about this nuclear option "compromise" for a few days now. I want to view it as a "win" for the Democrats, and I suppose only time will tell how good or bad it will all be. But I started thinking about this analogy....


The United States and Canada are fighting. It's a completely unreasonable fight, and the US is bullying Canada relentlessly. The US has just acquired all of Mexico, but it's unsatisfied. The US wants full control of ALL of North America and have indicated they will go to any length to get it.

Canada is resisting but this has only angered the US, who has issued an ultimatum to Canada: cooperate or we will use the "nuclear option" -- we will nuke you. Canada continues to hold its ground, but it knows that if the US can use their "nuclear option", there will be nothing Canada can do to stop them.

As the time for the US to use their "nuclear option" approaches, Canadian and US ambassadors work triple-time trying to avert it. Finally, in the zero-hour, a compromise is struck.

Canada will grant Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia to the US without any resistance and the US may try to acquire the other provinces at a later date. If Canada chooses to resist at that time, the US may still choose to invoke the "nuclear option".

Canada may have lived to fight another day, but the overall sitation is still the same except that now they have given up some ground and the US probably tastes the blood in the water.

The US didn't get everything they asked for, but they are a heck of a lot closer than they were before, and they don't suffer the major public relations catastrophe that "going nuclear" would have provoked.

So the question is... did the US win, or did Canada?

[DrDebug]

1. Sudetenland n/t

[funflower]

2. Good analogy. I don't know who won. The whole situation is awful.

[Melynn]

3. Using your analogy, the U.S. wins

The U.S. gets something without using force and still retains the right to use force in the future to acquire what they want.

[GiovanniC]

4. That's the Conclusion I Come to As Well

And then I try to figure out how that's NOT the case in our own nuclear compromise.