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That's a very lazy analysis. The critical point is "a failure to respond to military action against Ukraine would weaken American credibility and invite an att
by baybal2 5y ago
That's a very lazy analysis.
The critical point is "a failure to respond to military action against Ukraine would weaken American credibility and invite an attack on Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China."
The author says it's not the case, then goes completely sideways with comparison who Taiwan, and Ukraine are.
What's relevant here is a test of US military might, end of the story.
If US military force falters somewhere, it falters everywhere.
USA is the only country in the world with a global power projection, and capable of seriously hurting anybody it wants, one sidedly.
A failure means every unsavoury power in the world will go, and exploit this opportunity to do something nasty, while the US is incapable of getting them.
- mgh2 5y ago> If US military force falters somewhere, it falters everywhere Not exactly, but close - ex: Vietnam, Iraq, etc. Both Russian and China know this, helps explain the "show of force"- show me your arsenal, so I can analyze your strength and probability of winning
- genmud 5y agoOne could argue that those weren't US military force failures, so much as policy failures. Peacekeeping and warfighting are very different things.
- alfalfasprout 5y agoThose are fairly different though. With Taiwan Ukraine-- the involvement would be clear: Country A invades Country B. US intervenes to fight away country A. Losing here would be a HUGE crediblity blow. It's very different from "nation building" (which has been proven time and time again to be a waste of time, money, and lives). Losing here is more of a factor of fighting ideologies vs. a distinct adversary. In terms of training and military hardware the US is pretty much unrivaled even by China. But that knowledge suddenly becomes less relevant if it becomes clear we won't use it when it matters.
- burneracc 5y agoYup. Unfortunately the people of taiwan are going to get an unwelcome wake up call. If powerful armed nations of europe and north america cant stop russia they will certainly not be able to stop china. I am curious if post taiwan india will become a testing ground as it appears fertile land for destabilisation. We shall see how things unravel.