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Jewish World Review
Feb. 10, 2011
/ 6 Adar I, 5771
Assessing America's Foes
By
Paul Johnson
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Which is the bigger threat to the U.S. and its vital interests Islamic terrorism or China's economic and military expansion?
History teaches that extremist phases in Islam's development come and go and that the present surge of violence will pass. We need to combine vigilance with patience. To be vigilant is necessary, anyway. It's not a bad thing that the threat of suicide bombers has forced us to update and improve our security measures to detect and speedily derail violent conspiracies; the end of the Cold War had made us complacent.
The most worrisome danger today is the risk of a terrorist gang obtaining a nuclear weapon and the means to deploy it against a Western or Western- allied target. With Pakistan in its fragile state, terrorist access to its nuclear stockpile must be regarded as a distinct possibility. There is also the chance that North Korea might sell one of its A-bombs to terrorists or that Iran might present such a weapon when and if it succeeds in making one to those it regards as allies in the war against "the great Satan."
But these risks are well-known and provided for in America's contingency planning. Indeed, the possibility of a nuclear weapon's landing in rogue hands has forced the West to sharpen and pinpoint its intelligence efforts. And in this, of course, the U.S. has the inestimable advantage of enjoying the closest possible cooperation with Israeli intelligence services. And since Israel's very existence depends on forestalling such a threat, we can be sure its information on this issue is of the highest quality. In sum, then, the threat from Islamic extremism is huge and real but not a cause for panic.
China is in quite another category and may not be a threat at all.
Some argue, plausibly, that as China's economy continues to expand and more wealth and higher living standards are enjoyed by its rapidly expanding middle class, any aggressive intentions China has toward the West will gradually disappear, and it will become a trustworthy member of the international community.
Today there's no sign of such a rosy vision coming to pass. China's military budget continues to increase in absolute terms. The effort China is putting into military high tech is daunting, and there's no indication that China is abandoning any of its territorial claims in the vast East Asian theater.
There are two vital tests of China's intentions. Will it abandon its efforts to secure control over Taiwan by threat or the use of force? Will it cooperate with other powers in the region, including the U.S., to restrain North Korea? Until we get affirmative answers to these questions we cannot count on China's goodwill toward the world or its willingness to work for peace. We have to treat China with reserve not habitual hostility. But above all the U.S. must keep ahead of China in the development of military technology, especially on the seas and in the air.
Looking ahead to the midcentury we can foresee certain welcome adjustments. By 2050 China's population, while expected to be around 1.4 billion, will probably be dropping and have an aging profile. The U.S. population will be more than 400 million, be steadily rising and have a more youthful profile. It's possible, though unlikely, that by then China's GNP will be larger than America's, but in every other respect the U.S. economy will be well ahead, especially in high tech.
China would be more likely to become an economic as opposed to a military threat to the U.S. if it embraced democracy and freedom. Therein lies the paradox, for a truly free and democratic China and thus an increasingly prosperous and friendly one must be a welcome phenomenon.
Another factor to consider is India. China has chosen to expand its economy via traditional smokestack industries and cheap, mass-produced exports. In contrast, India is moving more rapidly into high tech. For the time being this means a less showy performance than China's. But in the long run this offers India a much more promising future, which by 2050 may be apparent.
What is clear today is that India, as a working democracy, a respecter of the rule of law and a potentially hightech superpower, will be an immensely valuable U.S. ally. Therefore, a cardinal object of American policy must be to cultivate India's friendship and cooperation in every sphere. And at the same time, if the U.S. remains a firm friend and ally of Japan, I doubt there will be much to fear in China's creating a huge economy. On the contrary, that might well prove, in the end, to be a blessing for mankind.
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Eminent British historian and author Paul Johnson's latest book is "American Presidents Eminent Lives Boxed Set: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant". Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
11/29/10: Wanted: Someone to Trust
10/19/10: Are Universities Worth It?
06/01/10: The English Language and Freedom
04/20/10: Listening and Telling the Truth
02/28/10: There Is No Keynesian Miracle
10/20/09: A Job Waiting for a Woman?
07/21/09: Obama Has to Be World Sheriff
03/24/09: Short works of genius that cheer up the writing profession
02/11/09: What would Darwin do?
01/27/09: Are you sophisticated? Here's how to find out
01/06/09: What did they talk about in the Ice Age? The weather, of course
09/09/08: Time, and our appalling ignorance of it
08/19/08: Eye-stopping glimpses of an exotic and forbidden world
06/30/08: How to fill a lecture hall, and how to empty it
06/23/08: Americans should count their blessings
05/20/08: Pajamas for Presidents
05/13/08: Literary woodlice boring needless holes in biographical bedposts
04/01/08: When markets come crashing down, send for the man with the big red nose
04/01/08: Quality for dinner. Pass the Fairy Liquid, Old Boy
03/25/08: In search of an American President with brains and guts
03/18/08: Technological warfare against mice won't work. Try cats
03/11/08: What is a genius? We use the word frequently but surely, to guard its meaning, we should bestow it seldom
03/03/08: Fiction as a crutch to get one through life
02/26/08: Impatience + Greed = Trouble
02/13/08: Shakespeare, Neo-Platonism and Princess Diana
02/07/08: Where Industry Has Failed Us
12/19/07: People who put their trust in human power delude themselves
12/12/07: What is aggression?
12/04/07: Pursuing success is not enough
11/07/07: Are famous writers accident-prone?
10/31/07: Courage needed to disarm Iran
09/20/07: Who Will Say I Promise to Lay Off?
07/24/07: Greed is safer than power-seeking
04/02/07: Benefactors must be hardheaded
03/07/07: American idealism and realpolitik
11/28/06: Space: Our ticket to survival
10/24/06: Envy is bad economics
10/11/06: Better to Borrow or Lend? Rethinking conventional wisdom
08/22/06: Don't practice legal terrorism
08/08/06: A summer rhapsody for a pedal-bike
08/03/06: Why is there no workable philosophy of music?
07/11/06: Historically speaking, energy crisis is America's opportunity
07/06/06: The misleading dimensions of persons and lives
06/06/06: First editions are not gold
05/23/06: A downright ugly man need never despair of attracting women, even pretty
ones
04/25/06: Was Washington right about political parties?
04/12/06: Let's Have More Babies!
04/05/06: For the love of trains
03/29/06: Lincoln and the Compensation Culture
03/22/06: Bottle-beauties and the globalised blond beast
03/15/06: Europe's utopian hangover
03/08/06: Kindly write on only one side of the paper
02/28/06: Creators versus critics
02/21/06: The Rhino Principle
© 2009, Paul Johnson
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