Thread by @Rrrrnessa

I really and genuinely need Western leftists to undermine that the vast majority of the Third World countries are entirely dependent on the good will of the Western world. You cannot dictate a country reliant on Intl. goodwill to stick it to the West. You just can't.

"Oh god, they're calling on the US/UK to help them" is easy to say when you have no other allies and are entirely under the pressure and influence of Western governments. "I'd never do that" is b/c you live in the West...you're not under constant threat.

Small countries like Bosnia do not have the choices that Western developed countries do. They have to call on their allies, they have to often actually beg them to intervene on their behalf because they have no power, they have no influence, they have no way to defend themselves.

It's easy to be critical when you're not under threat. The fact is that the United States is the most powerful country in the world and in times of strife, war, crisis, that's the first place people turn to.

I saw this with Syrians who begged for USA's help...instantly deemed as CIA plants or terrorists or whatever because Western leftists cannot somehow comprehend the power & reach the US/UK/EU actually hold over smaller countries with no power or influence.

& thinking that people under the threat of war, genocide, political and economic strife aren't going to try to plead with the most powerful country in the world that has the power to make it stop is actually insane to me.

& one can simultaneously be aware of the crimes of the American Empire and also understand that its reach is wide and powerful and often the only choice. The fact is that American propaganda machine has worked and is in no way the fault of people who are left relying on it.

It's infuriating to me to instantly dismiss the suffering of people because they're asking for American intervention or Western intervention when its clear people have been forced into that situation and feel like it's their only resource to survive.

For all the bad that the Western governments have done, there is still a reason why so many refugees try to find safety there....because with all its bad (& there's many) it is still a place of refuge when your country is bombed to hell.

If you're a citizen of those countries, trust me we would absolutely love to be able to make our own decisions, to not have to rely on International good will, to not have to beg them. Every peoples wants the right to their own self-determination but we don't live in that world.

We live in the world where America is in charge, where a few countries in Europe alongside the USA get to make up the rule that benefit them, get to decide when they want to help and who they want to help. That's the reality. So please...sit in your house of privilege and stfu.