History Forum / General / General Topics / July 2004

The US is a military superpower be

Since the US was the world's military superpower *before* the Cold War
ended, it would have had to unilaterally disarm after the Cold War to change
that status.

The US is still a military superpower because of a number of reasons:

1.Unilateral disarmament and appeasement have not appealed to most Americans
(outside the inner circle of the Democratic Party) and were largely
discredited in the 1940s. While military spending *was* dramatically reduced
in the 1990s, not even the feckless Clinton Administration seriously
considered complete disarmament.

2. Most of Europe *did* unilaterally disarm after the collapse of the Soviet
Union -- not that most of them carried their share of the defense burden
before the Soviet Union collapsed. Thus the US became comparatively stronger
than its only plausible military rival. Sadly for the Euros, the money saved
from their disarmament was thrown down the rathole of economically useless
social spending.

3. The third world is (and has been) militarily ineffective compared with
the West. Since most Post Cold War military actions take place in the third
world, the US military advantage is exaggerated.

4. Geography bestows on the US the advantages of being a large continental
power (ala Germany, Napoleonic France) *and* being an island power (ala
Great Britain). As a result, American military is structured for power
projection.

5. The US has a freer economy than any major industrialized power. This
allows it to spend a comparatively small percentage of its GNP yet fund a
very capable military.

6. Saddam Hussein's ill-conceived invasion of Kuwait reminded everyone that
the end of the Soviet Union did not automatically eliminate the need for
military power. Coming so soon after the effective collapse of the USSR (the
nominal collapse occurred a year later), this prevented the ridiculous
notion of unilateral disarmament from getting any traction.

--Ty

"Representative Trantis" wrote in message

[.]

1. It took several years to verify the new Russian Revolution had taken
hold. You will remember there was an attempt to return the old regime
dangerous enough to get St. Petersburg residents manning barricades.
2. Once accepted it took another several years to decide which form the new
military would take. That discussion is still ongoing and still contentious.
3. Third World War weapons programs already well in hand proved difficult to
end because most development costs had already been spent and contracts let.
An expensive artillery program was blocked by Congressmen in whose districts
the thing was to be built. A fighter program is still ongoing for the same
reason and because there is no other replacement for aging F16s,15s, 14s,
and 18s.

The US military is currently being reorganized from top to bottom to reflect
new world realities. The Navy and Air Force are being reduced and the Army
increased in size. The Army is loosing much of its weight so as to be more
easily and quickly transported. There will be fewer tanks and more lighter
wheeled armored infantry carriers. Special Forces in being expanded for
counter-terrorist operations and high tech command communications and
management systems all the rage. Basic soldier equipment is being modernized
as a result of studies done on the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

The US will maintain a forward deployable military and will be one of the
very few countries with that capability. You may remember this capacity was
much appreciated and exploited during the international interventions in
Bosnia and Kosovo. Within 8-9 years its military will not much resemble the
force as it was at the end of the Cold War.

In order to inflict meaningful casualties on the US military any contender
would have to spend many of hundreds of billions of dollars. They would have
to understand at the same time there would be a cost to pay. The US means to
maintain the capability to exact that cost. -the Troll