12 ms·

War against China will make up for that.

yk 13y ago
How do you want to fight a war against China? Not that I think it is impossible, in fact I think the world looks increasingly like 1913. ( Shifting power centers, convenient located powder kegs and large scale military alliances to ensure that everyone gets pulled into a war.) But there is simply not a staging area, so that it would be rather complicated to have a large war.
- knowaveragejoe 13y ago
  I don't think it would happen. With some exceptions, both countries enjoy economic activity with one another.
Gormo 13y ago
This will never happen. Nothing outside of purely symbolic rhetoric can posit China as an actual adversary of the United States. A war between the US and China would destroy the world; not with weapons and violence, but with the catastrophic collapse of global trade and finance that would immediately accompany it. The economic viability of the United States and the economic viability of China are so closely intertwined today that any idea of open hostility between the two is quite absurd. Regardless of rhetoric, the US will only continue harassing sclerotic third-world countries with negligible relevance to the American economy.
- mcantelon 13y ago
  I agree it's insane, but the US is apparently working towards it (and China is responding in kind). http://yalejournal.org/2013/06/12/who-authorized-preparations-for-war-with-china/ http://yalejournal.org/2013/06/12/who-authorized-preparation...
  - Gormo 13y ago
    Militaries develop strategic plans for wars that will never occur all the time. It's an effective form of contingency planning, and an effective way to practice strategic planning. I believe there have been plans developed by the Pentagon for a war with Canada, too.
    - kiiski 13y ago
      The first sentence in the linked article is: "The Pentagon has concluded that the time has come to prepare for war with China, and in a manner well beyond crafting the sort of contingency plans that are expected for wide a range of possible confrontations." I didn't bother reading all of it (it's not something that interests me), but that beginning seems to kind of undermine your point.
      - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
        The issue is complex, hence why the article is so long: > To judge by several published reports which will be discussed in greater detail below, including those by government “insiders,” there is no indication—not a passing hint— that the White House has ever considered earnestly preparing the nation for a war with China. Nor is there any evidence that the White House has compared such a strategy to alternatives, and—having concluded that the hegemonic intervention implied by ASB is the course the United States should follow—then instructed the Pentagon to prepare for such a military showdown

yk 13y ago

How do you want to fight a war against China? Not that I think it is impossible, in fact I think the world looks increasingly like 1913. ( Shifting power centers, convenient located powder kegs and large scale military alliances to ensure that everyone gets pulled into a war.) But there is simply not a staging area, so that it would be rather complicated to have a large war.

knowaveragejoe 13y ago
I don't think it would happen. With some exceptions, both countries enjoy economic activity with one another.

Gormo 13y ago

This will never happen. Nothing outside of purely symbolic rhetoric can posit China as an actual adversary of the United States. A war between the US and China would destroy the world; not with weapons and violence, but with the catastrophic collapse of global trade and finance that would immediately accompany it. The economic viability of the United States and the economic viability of China are so closely intertwined today that any idea of open hostility between the two is quite absurd. Regardless of rhetoric, the US will only continue harassing sclerotic third-world countries with negligible relevance to the American economy.

mcantelon 13y ago
I agree it's insane, but the US is apparently working towards it (and China is responding in kind). http://yalejournal.org/2013/06/12/who-authorized-preparations-for-war-with-china/ http://yalejournal.org/2013/06/12/who-authorized-preparation...
- Gormo 13y ago
  Militaries develop strategic plans for wars that will never occur all the time. It's an effective form of contingency planning, and an effective way to practice strategic planning. I believe there have been plans developed by the Pentagon for a war with Canada, too.
  - kiiski 13y ago
    The first sentence in the linked article is: "The Pentagon has concluded that the time has come to prepare for war with China, and in a manner well beyond crafting the sort of contingency plans that are expected for wide a range of possible confrontations." I didn't bother reading all of it (it's not something that interests me), but that beginning seems to kind of undermine your point.
    - knowaveragejoe 13y ago
      The issue is complex, hence why the article is so long: > To judge by several published reports which will be discussed in greater detail below, including those by government “insiders,” there is no indication—not a passing hint— that the White House has ever considered earnestly preparing the nation for a war with China. Nor is there any evidence that the White House has compared such a strategy to alternatives, and—having concluded that the hegemonic intervention implied by ASB is the course the United States should follow—then instructed the Pentagon to prepare for such a military showdown