As Russia continues its inhumane assault on Ukraine and China relentlessly pursues dominance in the Indo-Pacific and a massive arms buildup, the danger of a third world war escalates to frightening levels.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Lead Republican of the House Armed Services Committee, has warned that “The threats we face now are more formidable than at any point in the last 20 years. Unprecedented Chinese military modernization has enabled them to leapfrog us in key capabilities. The Chinese Communist Party now controls the largest army and navy in the world. It has more troops, more ships, and more hypersonic missiles than the United States… Putin’s catastrophic invasion of Ukraine has proven to the rest of the world that’s he’s nothing more than an unhinged crackpot. The problem is this crackpot has his finger on the world’s largest nuclear arsenal and an illegal stockpile of chemical and biological weapons, which he hasn’t hesitated to use against his perceived enemies. Emulating Putin’s desire to undermine democracy are the despotic leaders of North Korea and Iran.”
Recently, U.S. Representative Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, warned that “The threats we see from China and Russia have only increased since … last year.” The dangers are not just on land, sea, and air. Cyberspace and outer space are now battlefields, as well. Rep. Lamborn reports that “China has demonstrated on orbit the ability to grapple with another satellite and drag it to another orbit. Russia has demonstrated a ground launched anti-satellite weapon against one of its own satellites resulting in a dangerous field of debris that the world is still dealing with. These are just the public examples of China and Russia pushing for dominance in space. Their efforts in space are especially concerning when considering the provocative actions they are taking in other domains. Top of mind for all of us is Russia’s unprovoked war with Ukraine that has resulted in the indiscriminate deaths of thousands of civilians.”
Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the House Armed Services Committee that the world is getting more unstable, “and the potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing, not decreasing.”
The threat is not restricted to weapons development or theoretical future conflicts. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is already the largest conflict in Europe since World War 2. Iran is clearly engaged in terrorist attacks on U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East. After a four year hiatus during the Trump Administration, North Korea has resumed testing missiles that could reach the American mainland.
Looming over all of these issues are the actions of China. In a significant report, the Gatestone Institute warns that Beijing, “after years of persistent commercial, diplomatic, and military efforts, is taking over the Pacific. China is moving from island group to island group, and soon the People’s Liberation Army will be in striking distance of Hawaii…There is now talk that China will ink a security agreement with Papua New Guinea, just north of Australia…Moreover, China wants to upgrade an airstrip in Kiribati. Beijing says the improvements are for civilian purposes only, yet the military uses are apparent and no one believes the Chinese assurances. The facility is just 1,900 miles south of Hawaii. In Pacific terms, Kiribati is America’s next-door neighbor.”
Jean-Pierre Lehmann, writing for IMD, notes that “There are many signs that the ‘post-war’ period after World War II has finally come to an end and that we are now in a pre-war era. Many of the factors that define the times were present before many of the large-scale wars of the previous century: populism, nationalism, territorial disputes, ethnic and religious conflicts, terrorism, economic depression, high youth unemployment, corruption, pretty lamentable political leadership everywhere…”
Photo: China’s J-15 carrier-borne fighter jet