Thursday, September 8, 2016

Are We Sleepwalking Into A Big War?

Hornet Launch
An F/A-18E Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Arabian Gulf, Aug. 8, 2016. The Super Hornet is assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron 105. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class J. Alexander Delgado

Michael T Klare, Le Monde Diplomatique: Sleepwalking into a big war

The major powers are planning for war and claim that’s the best way to defend against war. Will this mutual hawkishness lead to armed conflict?

As the US presidential race approaches its climax and European officials ponder the implications of the UK’s Brexit vote, public discussion of security affairs is largely confined to strategies for combating international terrorism. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are trying to persuade voters of their superior qualifications to lead this battle, while European leaders scramble to bolster their countries’ defences against homegrown extremists. But though talk of terrorism fills the news media and the political space, it is secondary in the conversations of generals, admirals and defence ministers: it’s not low-level conflict that commands their attention but rather what they call ‘big wars’ — large-scale, high-level conflict with great-power adversaries like Russia and China. Such major conflicts, long considered most unlikely, are now deemed ‘plausible’ by western military strategists, who claim that urgent steps are needed to deter and, if necessary, prevail in such engagements.

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WNU Editor: One more reason why we need a new period of detente and a new look at arms control ... unfortunately no major power is willing to make the first move.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Detente is a joke.

The Cold War was hot. 50 million people died. It was fought through proxies.

The idea being that if you can incrementally gain advantage on your enemy at some point the position is hopeless.

This week should Chinese boyscouts be on the lookout for downed Soviet pilots or downed american pilots?