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1. China is a global economic competitor, but they won't be sending their Marines over our beaches to take Hollywood anytime soon. The Taiwan issue will remain touchy, but even in the unlikely event they take it by force, that is hardly a threat to us. Personally I think Taiwan will fall from the inside in time.Originally Posted by Stratiotes
2. Latin America presents a number of challenges, but MS 13 and the drug cartels are not going to take over our country. We simply need to take the gloves off with certain groups that threaten our people and put them down hard. As for the political actors, we're reaping what we have sewn over the past few decades. Anti-Americanism shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who is the least bit familiar with our history in the region. We need to have the government take a step back, and let our business men take the lead in engaging Latin America; to include Cuba. I think opening a few American businesses in Cuba will do more to under Castro in the short term than our sanctions ever will. A semi-capitalist Cuba, even with Casto in charge will take the wind out of several of the reemerging left wing political parties throughout South America. When will the American people dictate our foreign policy for Latin American? Right now it is highjacked by a few extreme right wing Cuban thugs in Florida. This should be unacceptable to the American people.
3. Russia, much like N. Korea, bears watching and shaping. Both are dangerous criminal enterprises that export all types of evil ranging from drugs to weapons to WMD?
4. The EU? Come on, CA's economy alone is larger than that of the EU's combined. Additionally, the EU has having plenty of problems making the union work. If it survives the next five years, then it may be a economic threat, but not one we can't manage with good leadership. In the realm of security they are an ally, not a threat.
5. Global anarchy is a real threat to much of the world, and while it doesn't threaten us a Nation, it definitely threaten's our interests. One could argue we could have used the money we spent on Iraq addressing this problem and achieved more national security wise by adequately funding the State Department to more effectively address these issues before they get out of hand. In many cases it is too late, such as in Sudan and Chad. While it may not matter immediately if either of those countries fail, the conflict will spread to areas that we or our friends have economic interests in.
6. Islamists are a threat, and one that won't go away until the Israel and Palestine issue is resolved. OIF has only made the problem worse, but still we won't be overrun by Islamists. We'll be infiltrated, we'll be hit again and again in our own country over time, but it won't be a storm we can't weather.
7. America is more than a geographical boundry, it is a set of ideas and laws imbeded in our constitution. Our greatest threat to this nation would be for us to compromise our own constitution. This is a much greater risk than a few clowns crashing civilian airlines into some buildings, regardless of how tragic that may be. Second, we need to look at the fabric of our people and wonder where we'll be two generations from now. When I see the following I have serious concerns:
A. Obesity crisis, especially in our youth. Demonstates weakness of mind and body.
B. Academic standards almost non-existent in many schools.
C. Computer games, pro sports, MTV, and other mind numbing activities have become the main form of recreation for kids and many adults. Kids in Lebanon know more about the world than many of our adults.
D. We keep lowering standards to meet recruiting numbers for our Armed Forces.
E. We lowered national taxes during a War, which means America as a whole isn't fighting this war, just the military. In the meantime our national debt is sky rocketing.
F. Beltway bandits drive DoD policy
The list goes on and on, and this list worries me a lot more than the AQ and Chinese.
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