That's likely all true, but here's another statistic:Originally Posted by John T. Fishel
The US has fought only 5 declared interstate wars in its entire history. If you include the American Revolution, the Civil War, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm that makes a total of 10 major wars against peer competitors. Every other military action falls into the Small Wars category beginning with the Indian Wars and the Whiskey Rebellion.
One could reduce the number of BIG wars by considering the Revolution our insurgency, Vietnam as COIN, and DS as a simple police action. But even if you don't, small wars are the most likely fights and have been throughout our history. Dunlap (and Gian) are correct that we should not let a peer threat grow to the point where we will have difficulty meeting it but, historically, that has not been the problem at least since 1945. Our problem has always been one of forgetting, ignoring, refusing to recognize the small wars threat and having to learn old lessons all over again - as in deja vu!
Cheers
JohnT
How many of these wars were really vital for the nation's well-being and the shaping of the international environment?
- The involvement in WW2 and possibly Vietnam.
The other wars were unnecessary.
COIN proficiency is really only necessary if you ally with weak states or intend to invade & occupy foreign nations. Both doesn't seem to be advantageous for your nation's well-being.
It's furthermore a strange assumption that no peer should be allowed to rise. Why not? That sounds more like a world domination adventure plan than reasonable policy.
The economic structure and development of the USA doesn't allow for such grandiose expectations anymore. The U.S. military expenditures aren't sustainable (real expenditures including some DHS budget and such is quite as big as the trade balance deficit and a bit larger than the federal budget deficit) and the industrial base is simply absent.
Did you look at the shipbuilding industry of the U.S. recently?
It's less than a per cent of world-wide production capacity.
Even Polish, Croatian and Danish shipbuilding industries are bigger.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipbuilding
The real U.S. industrial value added is inferior to PR China's.
http://defense-and-freedom.blogspot....ial-power.html
It's reasonable if a power doesn't want to be inferior militarily, but that needs to be seen in context of alliances, possible arms control and conflict prevention/solution.
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