Blog
The Enduring Traumas of War Scares for the United States and Russia
This is important to keep in mind in view of last week’s NATO air exercise in Europe, which was the largest such exercise since the Cold War ended in 1991. More than two dozen nations took part, contributing fighter jets, bombers, and cargo planes, according to the New York Times, which described the exercise as a “pointed demonstration to Russia.” The exercise, “Air Defender 2023,” was planned long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in order to correct a self-described “vulnerability” that called for “more troops and equipment based permanently on the Russian border, more integration of allied war plans, and more military spending.
Birds of a Feather: Trump and Airman Jack Teixeira
There could not be more dissimilarities between any two people than those between former president Donald Trump and Airman First Class Jack Teixeira. Simple demographics would record the differences in wealth, education, experience, background, and family. Trump is a millionaire many times over thanks to an inheritance from his wealthy dad; he lives in golden residences in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Teixeira comes from a very modest background; he lives with his parents in a small town near Cape Cod.
The USS Liberty: a Well-Planned Accident
Today marks the 56th anniversary of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, which has been described by too many U.S. and Israeli accounts as an accident. In fact, the attack took place after eight hours of aerial surveillance by Israel, and it involved a two-hour air and naval attack that killed 34 sailors and wounded an…
The Mainstream Media’s Unwillingness to Challenge U.S. Militarization
The Post regularly states that the United States spends as much on defense as the next 10 or 11 nations combined, but the cruel fact is that we spend as much as all other nations combined. The global total for defense spending is around $2.5 trillion, and U.S. defense spending exceeds $1.2 trillion. The Pentagon’s budget for next year is $886 billion, but that is not the full extent of defense spending. The budget for the Veteran’s Administration is over $120 billion, which takes total defense spending to more than $1 trillion. There is significant defense spending in the budgets of the intelligence community, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security, bringing total defense spending to at least $1.2 trillion.
The Washington Post’s Newest Strategy for Challenging China
nstead of exploring policies that enable the United States to find ways to get along with China, too many politicians and pundits, like Boot, believe the only answer is in the pursuit of confrontation. The idea that India can be our ally against China seems far-fetched, given China’s many strengths, particularly in its economic and military advantages vis-a-vis India.
The Global Importance of Sino-American Relations
Currently, China has been taking advantage of the U.S. preoccupation with supporting Ukraine to steal a march on Washington’s interests, particularly in the Middle East. Unlike the United States, China has avoided contentious disputes throughout the Third World in order to establish reliable state-to-state relations in the Global South. While the Middle East has become America’s briar pitch, China has concluded long-term energy deals with Iran and Saudi Arabia, and recently orchestrated a rapprochement between the region’s leading countries. The United States could not play the honest broker role because it has no diplomatic relations with Iran and unreliable relations with Saudi Arabia.
