Defense News: A ‘weakness of the West’? UK defense minister warns of lack of grand strategy
WASHINGTON — In an era where talking about great power competition is all the rage, the U.K.’s top defense official has a stark warning: Western nations need to start thinking about the big picture.
Speaking in Washington on Aug. 7, Gavin Williamson, the U.K. defense minister, warned that not enough is being done to plan for long-term efforts by Western nations to counter the potential threats from Russia and China.
“The debates about grand strategy among NATO partners, among the West, among our friends and allies, there’s not enough talk about it,” Williamson said during a visit to the Atlantic Council. “You want to be having that conversation because if we do not have that conversation, if we do not start planning for it, we will be ill-prepared for it.
“I think that is a weakness of the West, and we have to deal with this, and we have to deal with it soon and quickly.”
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WNU Editor: UK Defense Minister Gavin Williamson is 100% correct. The problem is that every Western government has a different agenda and are focused on different issues. Add to the fact that with elections and new governments always coming and going .... the idea that a grand strategy among a number of governments can be formulated and that future governments will stick to it .... I am very skeptical that such a strategy will happen.
5 comments:
"Grand Strategies" are great for history books and the discussions of pundits, but they rarely exist. When they do exist it is only from great necessity and even then the participants only follow them as far as their own needs dictate. You are dead right WNU.
The two most important members of the western alliance, the USA and Germany started diverging their foreign policies in 2003 and haven’t looked back. As long as this bifurcation exists no grand strategy is possible for NATO. So the USA is looking elsewhere to Asia and the Middle East for helpers to formulate and implement grand strategy.
I agree the "Free" world alliance which includes all the Western nation but also includes Pacific partners as well this is true in large part. However, I think the Pacific partners are waking up against the China threat, the EU partners are asleep at the wheel and now the US is operating properly. Trump I think sees the big picture and the Tarrifs against China is a great Grand Strategy to reign them in. The Middle East is also Checked with growing alliances with Saudia Arabia, Egypt and more
Germany is certainly important, but realistically, Japan belongs just as much to the "West". Let's face it. The west is not just a direction based on magnetism. It's a group of ideologies centered around individual rights, democracy or democratic like systems, freedom of speech. Japan qualifies very much so and also would not make friends with opposing systems like north Korea, Russia and China. Pretty much all industrial, post-industrial nations on earth are part of the west. It's for sure the biggest -by far- alliance and nothing, not even 5 china's, could compete. What we see is not an absence for a grand strategy due to laziness (we, the west, didn't get where we are now due to laziness or lack of ambition for sure). .instead it's the absence of necessity (as you pointed out), that shapes our foreign policies. Even the 'rise' (more of a deeply embarrassing stumble) of China - 1.5bn people after all- doesn't really bother the west. Why? Because even Chinese want to live freely. That's why they all come to live here.
Russia is still doing its Russia act but in reality there's only one super power. That's the Western alliance led by the US. Nothing comes even close. China's rise is pretty much over. The US economy (20 trillion in size) is growing by steady 4%. That's pretty much the same as China. BUT if you ever had 20,000,000,000,000 in the bank, you sure will notice that growing 20 trillion by 4% means much more than growing 10 trillion. (Uh oh and guess what. .china's gdp has been shown to be inflated by up to 30%. Means their 1.5bn people just produce 2-3 times as much as Germany, a country of 80 million). Common. If anyone really believes there's a big weakness in the west, just wait until all those pundits (the very same bunch you see on cnn all day) rests their hats for falsely predicting China would overtake the us economy 2 years ago. Not even in 10 years from now. Not even in 20. China is going downhill and fast
Absolutely. I live in Asia. One of the reasons I don't believe in the China myth is because I see on ground that they have no clue how to lead. The Chinese are not leaders. They are diplomatic infants and embarrassingly unskilled in contractual law, international law and most importantly look down on everyone. That's their weakness. All other Asian nations despise the Chinese because of their hubris from the getgo (and because of how the Chinese treat and have treated their neighbours for thousands of years - just ask the Vietnamese, who even after the Vietnam war - they call it the American war - still like Americans and the West much much more. Chinese? Hate them! Ask Indians. About as many Indians as Chinese in the world and they are neighbours. Indians hate the Chinese! ..you see my point? China had only money to offer - and that already, after one decade of spending on foreign relations ,is now running dry with the slowing economy, WHO trade suit issues and trade war. In my humble opinion of being in Asia more times than I can remember and living here... China is done for. They are all but encircled by nations who want to see them fail for all their aggressions. All nations here have been threatened and bullied by China. Vietnam was even threatened with war. And while the Chinese can turn around their economy in theory, and perhaps even in practice, their weakness is and remains their incapability of forming meaningful relations and running an open society. Having a working democracy is not as easy. Because when the money is gone to bribe and bully and dominate, and people have to choose who to join, they will choose freedom and democracy every single time. Don't believe me? Come here. Stay a few years and travel. Chinese are -tolerated- in exchange for money. Americans and westerners are welcome. Asians by far greater numbers live in Europe and the US than in China. Same reasons.
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