Former U.S. President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump selected Ohio Senator J.D. Vance as his running mate on July 15. The 39-year-old conservative, whose fame ballooned after the publication of his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," was announced as Trump's pick for vice president on the first day

Vance is one of Trump’s most vocal supporters and an outspoken critic of U.S. aid to Ukraine.

. . .

Vance has said that it would be “completely irresponsible” for Ukraine to join NATO. He has also argued for the U.S. to focus solely on preventing Chinese expansion, even if that means sacrificing sovereign Ukrainian lands to Russia.

“Any peace settlement is going to require some significant territorial concessions from Ukraine, and you’re gonna have a peace deal, because that’s the only way out of the conflict,” Vance said in February.

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  • vxx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    History, yes.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Soviet_invasion_of_Iran

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi

    In 1963, Mohammad Reza introduced the White Revolution, a series of economic, social, and political reforms aimed at transforming Iran into a global power and modernizing the nation by nationalizing key industries and redistributing land. The regime also implemented Iranian nationalist policies establishing Cyrus the Great, the Cyrus Cylinder, and the Tomb of Cyrus the Great as popular symbols of Iran. The Shah initiated major investments in infrastructure, subsidies and land grants for peasant populations, profit sharing for industrial workers, construction of nuclear facilities, nationalization of Iran’s natural resources, and literacy programs which were considered some of the most effective in the world. Shah also instituted economic policy tariffs and preferential loans to Iranian businesses which sought to create an independent economy for the nation. Manufacturing of cars, appliances, and other goods in Iran increased substantially, leading to the creation of a new industrialist class insulated from threats of foreign competition. By the 1970s, Shah was seen as a master statesman and used his growing power to pass the 1973 Sale and Purchase Agreement. These reforms culminated in decades of sustained economic growth that would make Iran one of the fastest-growing economies among both the developed world and the developing world. During his 37-year-long rule, Iran spent billions of dollars’ worth on industry, education, health, and military spending and enjoyed economic growth rates exceeding the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. Likewise, the Iranian national income rose 423 times over, and the country saw an unprecedented rise in per capita income—which reached the highest level of any point in Iran’s history—and high levels of urbanization. By 1977, Mohammad Reza’s focus on defense spending, which he saw as a means to end foreign powers’ intervention in the country, had culminated in the Iranian military standing as the world’s fifth-strongest armed force.[5]

    • OBJECTION!@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      The first link is about a different incident. During WWII, the Allies were concerned about the possibility of Iranian oil falling into the hands of the Nazis, and they also wanted to set up a supply corridor to connect themselves, so when the Iranian king that Britain had installed refused to cooperate, they invaded, deposed him, and instituted his son in his place. However, the monarchy was still bound by parliament at the time, until the US overthrew the prime minister and granted the shah absolute power, accountable to no one.

      I didn’t expect to find an unironic monarchist on here. It’s true that he instituted some programs over the course of his 37 year reign, but they weren’t nearly enough, the country was still a dictatorship and people were very unhappy with living under his rule.