Quote (Meanwhile @ Oct 22 2022 12:04am)
"Generations ahead" ? This is a bit much, IMHO.
More like an clear milotary advance and high numbers which is the results of gigantic defense budget on decades, which could itself vanish pretty quickly in various situations like: global crisis, internal political crisis, major changes in global military warfare, global technology discoveries. Or all together.
The US's military might is predicated on its economic might, which in turn helps sustain enormous intellectual and technological advantages. If the United States were to devolve into civil war, then sure, its overseas reach would be temporarily out of service.
Quote (Black XistenZ @ Oct 22 2022 03:53am)
Yes, Russia has proven to be a paper tiger, but it would be a mistake to infer that this is also true for other nations challenging the Western-led global order.
Also, let's not lose sight of our own glaring vulnerabilities that this conflict has exposed. From our sustained dependency on energy supplies from authoritarian countries over vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure to the sheer edge that terrorism against civilians can provide, this war has unveiled a lot of potential tactics for our future adversaries.
China spends roughly 5.5x what Russia does, so we should expect better results. But the two or three issues confronting Russia will likely present a challenge for them as well. They'll struggle to control the seas, and so they'll lose control over global supply chains necessary for a war economy. They're making every effort to modernize their NCO corps, as did Russia, but it remains a work in progress. And China has no relevant experience prosecuting a modern war, whereas the United States has plenty of recent experience operating large wars thousands of miles from home.
That being said, I've read a number of articles referencing war games in the Pacific where the United States loses (regularly). That's why I refuse to get too drawn in to the Russia saga. For better or worse, Europe is going to need to solve the Russia question. The United States needs to be focused on the Pacific, and we're well past the time where we can take fighting two or three fronts at once for granted.