Dilandu wrote:“We do what Charisians do best, Your Majesty.” She gave him a quirky smile. “We invest. We take those islands of stability and expand them into islands of prosperity.”
Was tried in post-war China, then in Vietnam, partially in South Korea (in 1960s the average life level in "communists hell" on the North was significantly higher than in "free paradise" of South)... the results are pretty trivial. Funds are stolen, misused, mismanaged by corrupt & incompetent local powermongers. Eventually the "investor" is forced to took direct control over "islands of prosperity" (before they became actually worse than "not so prosperous" parts), after which "investor" turned into "invader" in the eyes of locals. After this, the best plan is usually to pull out as fast as its possible.
Anyway, thanks for a new snippet!
I only swing by once in a blue moon for snippets but I'll point out (if it hasn't already been) that Taiwan and South Korea were two of the four Asian Tigers. The other two also being islands of prosperity: Hong Kong and Singapore.
And that Taiwan and South Korea were/are Kleptocracies didn't stop that from happening. Neither believe that the US are "invaders"...just sometimes annoying and only moderately dependable allies. We also never directly took control over these two countries.
South Vietnam likely would have been a 5th Asian tiger had it survived. We had a moral duty to try to keep it afloat do so under the "if you break it you bought it" code but elected not to after we pulled out.
So, thus far, from a historical perspective, the strategy is sound. The real question is whether Taiwan will have a soft landing or not but kicking that can down the road has worked for the last 50 years....and hopefully for a few decades more...