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> the prospect of war Are you claiming that trade dependence between countries makes war between them more likely?

hayst4ck 4y ago
China sent missiles over Taiwan last week. To me that clearly invokes the prospect of war with our largest trade dependency. I am claiming that showing weakness by giving a powerful weapon (supply chain dependency) to an adversary invites them to see what they can get away with especially if they wish to conquer another country and you are their main blocker. Our supply chain dependency means China has a direct "cause pain" button they can push on America to cause political unrest or directly punish American involvement in China's "internal affairs." It is a tool they can use to try to make our elites present the Taiwan invasion, not as the conquering of a vibrant democracy, but as America's imperialist meddling in China's internal affairs. The supply chain can directly be used to extort our neutrality, just like Nord Stream was used to extort Germany's neutrality and corrupt Germany's elites. Is our defense posture better then that? Probably, but there is no denying Xi's China is getting more belligerent not less, which means they likely see the relative power shifts favoring them. It is not the trade that I view as making war more likely, but the hard to replace dependency, namely Nord stream and the tech hardware supply chain.
mantas 4y ago
When do equal powers go to war? You go to war if you either have a massive advantage or you think you have a massive advantage. And war is just the last bit to enforce your power over the other entity. Having the other side dependant on you in trade does give you a massive advantage.
stacktrust 4y ago
> trade dependence between countries makes war between them more likely? Depends on the relative symmetry of trade—balanced, deficit or surplus—combined with other factors, of course.

China sent missiles over Taiwan last week. To me that clearly invokes the prospect of war with our largest trade dependency. I am claiming that showing weakness by giving a powerful weapon (supply chain dependency) to an adversary invites them to see what they can get away with especially if they wish to conquer another country and you are their main blocker. Our supply chain dependency means China has a direct "cause pain" button they can push on America to cause political unrest or directly punish American involvement in China's "internal affairs." It is a tool they can use to try to make our elites present the Taiwan invasion, not as the conquering of a vibrant democracy, but as America's imperialist meddling in China's internal affairs. The supply chain can directly be used to extort our neutrality, just like Nord Stream was used to extort Germany's neutrality and corrupt Germany's elites. Is our defense posture better then that? Probably, but there is no denying Xi's China is getting more belligerent not less, which means they likely see the relative power shifts favoring them. It is not the trade that I view as making war more likely, but the hard to replace dependency, namely Nord stream and the tech hardware supply chain.

mantas 4y ago

When do equal powers go to war? You go to war if you either have a massive advantage or you think you have a massive advantage. And war is just the last bit to enforce your power over the other entity. Having the other side dependant on you in trade does give you a massive advantage.

stacktrust 4y ago

> trade dependence between countries makes war between them more likely? Depends on the relative symmetry of trade—balanced, deficit or surplus—combined with other factors, of course.