Friday, August 27, 2010

2021: The Military and the World

It's 2021 and 46 has just been sworn in. What will future challenges look like and how will Great Satan respond?

Democracy Journal hooked up with 4 super savvy cats and the results are interesting. - ditch State Department and let Defense handle embassies, prepare for the forever quest with Palestine and get ready to stay for a long time in Iraq and Yemen.

"...India and Pakistan will still be very much at odds. Pakistan won’t be stable, and will have been producing more nuclear weapons and more nuclear material. The question is, do you want to get involved, and if so, how do you want to handle it?

"...Weak and failing states, particularly in the so-called Third World or under-developed world, which will have led to instability, the spread of disease, migration, militias running around, and possibly created havens for terrorists.

"...A resurgent China, which will have gotten much further along with its economy and its military. But China will also be facing tremendous crises at home, dealing with demographic and environmental concerns, as well as other internal political issues that get expressed externally.

"...In dealing with China, India, and Pakistan, the president will discover that our civilian toolbox has further atrophied. And just about anything the president wants to, whether it’s military or not, will have to be done through the Department of Defense, because that will be the last adequately resourced part of our international affairs structure.

Also features a pointer in the COIN versus Hyper Puss debate au courant:

"...Is the strategy that we most need one that uses the military as a primary counterinsurgency force and as a means of remaking societies? Or is our primary strategic concern the capacity for our military to act as a stabilizing force–during a period when we go from the United States being the only guarantor of global security to being the most powerful of a number of guarantors?

"...By 2021, it’s almost certain that there will be a greater need for the integration of the elements of power and influence, far greater than we have today.

Pic- "Fire and Flood" with Leticia Wolf


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