China, Russia and Iraq
By wet rat Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Following up on my previous Iraq comments, here's my perception of what is happening on the more diplomatic side.
We know that throughout human history, militaries have constantly shifted between emphasis on mobility and emphasis on hardness.
We also know that the optimum structure for deterring or balancing an emerging empire (such as China) is very different from a counter-insurgency optimum.
If adversary states can cause enough instability so that we make long-term changes in our armed forces to optimize them for wars such as the present Iraq war, then that change works to the advantage of those adversaries.
That is why we need to be careful when evaluating "transformation" based on Iraq.
Yes, diplomacy concerns both commercial and military relations, but I think there is great military advantage to be gained by China if we start thinking like Webb.