Item — HN Reader

Norway's national security is already tied to the US by virtue of its membership with NATO. Any country in a military alliance understands that it somewhat politically limits their freedom when it comes to foreign policies, as they also have to consider the foreign policy goals of those in the military alliance (especially the more powerful partners - see https://politics.stackexchange.com/q/80821 ). Unless Norway is lead by some foolish political leader who forgets this basic political principle, there shouldn't be any problems with the US. Note also that Norway's sovereign fund investment in the US also create an economic dependence between the two countries. It would hurt the US industries too, if Norway suddenly decided to pull all their investment out of the US.

Moreover, the US dealing with the Norwegians like they did with Russian wealth in America or Europe, would mean the end of western control over international finance. Other countries have already noted how the western countries are withholding Russian funds to try and blackmail them, and are already talking about the need for an alternate international finance system that will not be as vulnerable to western politics.

2 comments

That doesn't really square with reality. For instance Turkey goes directly against US interests in the middle east constantly - while being part of NATO.

The linked SO question is a bit ridiculous. Since when are India and the US allies? I can't think of anything the two countries have really done jointly. The US has historically supported Pakistan and India has historically had very chummy relations with the USSR/Russia (esp the military industrial side of things). India is not a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and they don't respect US pharmaceutical IP. They're not outright enemies, but they're def not allies

That's a different case. Turkey (Türkiye) was desperate to join NATO because of USSR. Now that Russia isn't as strong and relationships between the two have improved, and Türkiye has realised that the EU has no intention of ever making it a member, it has less reason to kowtow to US / NATO foreign policies. Once it de-prioritised its foreign policy from US / NATO, it has naturally found more space to have a more independent foreign policy.

From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_non-NATO_ally

"In 2016, the United States recognized India as a "major defense partner"...

In June 2019, American lawmakers provided for enhancements to the strategic status of India, though this fell short of designating the country as an MNNA."

    if Norway suddenly decided to pull
    all their investment out of the US

How can you "pull" an investment out of a country if that country says the investment is void?

    an alternate international finance system

Countries can certainly build that. But can they build GPUs on par with Nvidia, Google, Intel and AMD?

I was citing the opposite scenario - if the US can claim the investment is void Norway too has the option to unilaterally withdraw its investments from the US, anticipating such shenanigans. Both are extreme cases. As for international finance systems vs restrictions on technology - you are mixing up different forms of sanctions.