104
votes
Accepted
Why are American elections and politics receiving so much coverage in Canadian and European media?
From a European perspective:
The U.S. has a great deal of influence in the world, so the presidency of the U.S. is quite likely to affect your own country in some way.
For example: In the last 20 ...
98
votes
Accepted
Why hasn't the U.S. government paid war reparations to any country it attacked?
The answer is right in the Wikipedia page you cited (emphasis added):
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by the vanquished to the victors.
The United States has not been ...
89
votes
Accepted
What was the political motive behind United States Osama Bin Laden's killing? Why not capture him?
Kill versus capture
If they had captured Osama bin Laden, what would they have done with him? Barack Obama opposed the Guantanamo Bay facility, so they would have had to keep him on United States ...
84
votes
Why is Russia still welcome on the ISS despite geopolitical tensions?
In addition to RedGrittyBrick's correct answer, also do not forget that between 2011 and 2020, russian Soyuz rockets were how to get to and from the ISS. If tensions between the US and Russia had ...
82
votes
Accepted
Why is Russia still welcome on the ISS despite geopolitical tensions?
Ownership
Russia owns a significant part of the ISS
Treaty
Access to the ISS is governed by an international treaty, the Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA)
Article 9 (Utilization) Clause ...
80
votes
Accepted
Why do many countries ban the sale of one's own blood?
Many countries are seeking to move to a system of 100% voluntary (unpaid) blood donations, and many others already have; according to the World Health Organization's Global Status Report on Blood ...

CDJB♦
- 82.6k
67
votes
Accepted
What is the rationale behind delaying the imposition of more radical Covid-19 countermeasures?
Specifically with reference to the UK, an article in the Guardian reports that
Experts have warned about the risk that if tough measures are taken too soon, “fatigue” may set in, prompting the ...
64
votes
Accepted
Can European countries bypass the EU and make their own individual trade deal with the U.S.?
They cannot. It's an exclusive competence of the EU. So much so that the point played a major role in the Brexit negotiations. The reason there are two phases in the Brexit deal (leave first, then ...
55
votes
Why are American elections and politics receiving so much coverage in Canadian and European media?
I am Canadian. I would challenge your opinion that American Politics "don't have much of an effect on day-to-day life in Canada".
Canada and the United States enjoy the largest trading ...
53
votes
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
The United Nations. It comprises of 193 states with two additional observer states - Vatican City and Palestine. Whilst it has a ...
52
votes
Accepted
Can a country avoid prosecution for crimes against humanity by denying it happened?
Your question is slightly at odds with reality.
First off, with the important exception of the US government, nobody sensible is quibbling over the mounting amount of evidence that Agent Orange had ...
51
votes
Why hasn't the U.S. government paid war reparations to any country it attacked?
The agreement to pay war reparations is usually part of a peace treaty. It is usually a demand the superior party makes from the inferior party in exchange for peace.
In any wars where the United ...
51
votes
Why should nations that stand to benefit from climate change have to contribute to the fight against it?
This quite a good question, considering that it is one often asked by detractors of climate change concerns.
Frame shift: Benefits? What benefits? From the POV of Canada, a cold country which is ...
49
votes
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
So the borough of Manhattan (pop. 1.6m) does not have its own separate authority with legislative powers. Are there even bigger fully dependent political entities like this?
There are at least two ...
46
votes
Accepted
What prevents a government from taxing its citizens living abroad?
What prevents this in general is the practical ability to collect. The US can collect on its citizens living abroad in part because (even foreign) banks really don't want to end up on the bad side of ...
46
votes
Accepted
What does the West have to gain by not allowing Russia to pay its debt?
By not allowing Russia to pay its debt, the West adds further financial costs to Putin's regime as a punishment for its invasion of Ukraine. This is consistent with economic sanctions against Russia ...
42
votes
Why have some governments banned outbound international flights in response to COVID-19?
Another possibility, ignoring fears of infection, is that the country doesn't want their citizens to become stranded in another country if flights are suspended at a later date. For example, on Monday,...

CDJB♦
- 82.6k
42
votes
Accepted
What's the purpose of sending diplomats to the Olympic games?
The Olympics is and always has been — even back to the ancient Greeks — a political event, meant to pit the prowess of one nation against another in something other than warfare. Hosting the Olympics ...
40
votes
Are countries other than the US concerned about pronouns and how they relate to gender?
There are movements for gender-inclusive language in almost every language that has grammatical gender, though the extent and favored solutions differ in each.
Wikipedia has a long document discussing ...
37
votes
Accepted
Why won't China or Russia modernize North Korea's army by selling them modern military equipment?
Maybe this is a bit of circular reasoning, but UN sanctions prohibit countries from supplying North Korea with such weapons (and much more). You might say this reasoning is circular because China or ...

JJJ♦
- 36.8k
36
votes
What is the rationale behind delaying the imposition of more radical Covid-19 countermeasures?
Shutting down schools, banning large gatherings and pushing people to do home office has a massive economic cost. Of course you never get the exact numbers on either death or cost but essentially you ...
35
votes
Why won't China or Russia modernize North Korea's army by selling them modern military equipment?
Why would both China and Russia want to modernize North Korean army in the first place?
They both (mainly China) derive some benefits from the NK behavior, but they don't completely control NK (that's ...
35
votes
What does the West have to gain by not allowing Russia to pay its debt?
Western governments are banning Western banks from doing business with Russia. If that means Russian companies and the Russian state cannot repay Western investors, they are going to accept that.
Also,...
34
votes
Why should nations that stand to benefit from climate change have to contribute to the fight against it?
Given this, why is it becoming so "politically correct" for nations in the world to form a joint force to fight global warming? Why should any country be blamed/discriminated for not being ...

JJJ♦
- 36.8k
33
votes
Why won't China or Russia modernize North Korea's army by selling them modern military equipment?
Your premise is incorrect as to the state of the DPRK army. The Chonma-ho may not be up to the standards of an Abrams, but it is much more modern than the T-34.
It is unclear if the DPRK really has ...
33
votes
Why is Russia still welcome on the ISS despite geopolitical tensions?
The Wolf Amendment was a focused attempt to stop China's specific behavior of stealing civilian space technology and using it to develop military capabilities
The Wolf Amendment was not passed just to ...
32
votes
Accepted
What are the consequences for a developed nation to not accept any refugees?
An important factor here is the treaties a country has signed up to. In this case, a relevant one is the 1951 Refugee Convention. From UNHCR:
The 1951 Refugee Convention is the key legal document ...

JJJ♦
- 36.8k
32
votes
Why are American elections and politics receiving so much coverage in Canadian and European media?
"Obsessed" is rather too strong a term. "Interested in" or "concerned about" might be closer.
The big reason is "money", or perhaps "power". The two ...
31
votes
Accepted
Can there be a UN resolution to remove a country from the UN Security Council?
Yes
The first and most obvious method is based on the UN charter, Article VI, which says in its entirety:
A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the
Principles contained ...
31
votes
Accepted
Why don't other countries try to emulate the United States?
1. The formal system just doesn't matter that much.
If you look at some other long-lasting stable democracies such as the UK or Switzerland, you'll see that they function very different than the US ...
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