US Defense Sec: NATO faces a "dim, if not dismal" future

[Joe McCarthy]

I think he desperately wants a war with China. Typical war monger.

Does he know that NATO and the UN ultimately owe their existence to the extreme progressive democrat, President Wilson?

What I want is irrelevant. Elements of the Chinese establishment see war with the US as inevitable, and the proper course of action in cases such as these is not to take a pollyanna approach. Germany and Britain had close trade ties prior to WW1- you see all the good it did... And obviously Wilson had nothing to do with NATO.

[poiuytrewq0987]

What I want is irrelevant. Elements of the Chinese establishment see war with the US as inevitable, and the proper course of action in cases such as these is not to take a pollyanna approach. Germany and Britain had close trade ties prior to WW1- you see all the good it did... And obviously Wilson had nothing to do with NATO.

No, there won't be an actual war. Another cold war, perhaps but an actual war? No, it'd just lead to a nuclear war and look at how that turned out in the Cold War.

[Joe McCarthy]

No, there won't be an actual war. Another cold war, perhaps but an actual war? No, it'd just lead to a nuclear war and look at how that turned out in the Cold War.

Citing the Cold War as precedent for the unlikelihood of war with China is pretty ironic as war between the two powers, including nuclear war, was seen as very likely. As it happened we lucked out and war didn't come.

[poiuytrewq0987]

Citing the Cold War as precedent for the unlikelihood of war with China is pretty ironic as war between the two powers, including nuclear war, was seen as very likely. As it happened we lucked out and war didn't come.

We lucked out because both sides realized that a nuclear war was unwinnable.

[Joe McCarthy]

We lucked out because both sides realized that a nuclear war was unwinnable.

The advantage, if you'd call it that, that we have today is the trade ties. The US and USSR led two different blocs with relatively little trade between them. However, the Soviets were never a serious threat to bypass us in economic power, while China is. As China gets stronger it could look for ways to lessen its dependency on us, which it actually is already in unloading their debt holdings, and that will both remove an incentive not to wage war and present a much stronger potential foe than the USSR ever was. Nor can we count on the nuclear deterrent as cyberwarfare technology could make ICBMs inoperable - and China invests heavily on that front.