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Showing posts with the label Military

The Russia-Ukraine War Benefits the World

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  Let’s call it what it is: The Russia-Ukraine conflict is a war between two imperialist powers, the US and Russia. The longer the war lasts, the better for the world, as the protracted war undermines their respective power. Is the conflict a clash between democracy and autocracy, as the US claims? Or is it self-defense against Western encroachment, as Russia contends? There is nothing righteous about the geopolitical tussle over which side will control Ukraine. Under the veneer of democratic freedom or pan-slavic nationalism lies the primacy of might by any means necessary. Any rational person with some knowledge of history and geopolitics should be able to cut through the smoke screens that each belligerent uses to justify its aggresion. When America brandishes its Democracy stick, it means that its empire itches for new boundaries. When the Russian Bear plays the victim, it merely pursues its centuries-old insatiable hunger for more land. Ten years on, the clash of titans has result

Why Has China Not Gone To War Yet?

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  Year after year, the US cries wolf about China’s impending military aggression. The familiar refrain from the White House, Congress, Pentagon, CIA, and retired generals comes in invariably alarming tone: China’s invasion of Taiwan is imminent; President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready for invading Taiwan by a certain year; and rising tensions in the South China Sea will trigger WWIII. Year after year, the wolf fails to show up. Yet, the US Empire’s mass media keeps amplifying this false narrative, day in day out. These tired tropes never die. For good reasons. They vilify China as America’s greatest enemy. They advance the National Security Council’s bellicose agenda. They prompt Congress to boost ever greater defense budgets. They serve to rally American allies. The sweeping China military threat narrative brushes aside a major question: Why has China not gone to war yet, despite enjoying 40 years of dizzying economic boom and rapid military modernization? The U

China: What Kind of Superpower in 2030?

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The year 2030 will be a historic year. China, the second largest economy in terms of GDP,  will overtake the US, the uncontested economic juggernaut since 1890. In their heydays, either the Soviet Union, Germany, or Japan came in second, but neither one of them ever came close to dethrone the American powerhouse. That China, a once backward country with 70% of its workforce in agriculture in 1978, will succeed where other nations failed is an impressive feat.  China's ascension as an economic superpower carries great significance to the word. The center of world economy will shift from the US and Europe to China and parts of Asia. Many countries depend on importing from and exporting to China. With 30% of the world manufacturing output, China has risen as the world's factory, producing Made in China goods to meet rising global demand.  In 2030, will China replace the US as the hegemonic superpower? The answer is a resounding no. Nor will it be a hegemonic superpower in 2050, bu