|
At least until the recent trend of trying to fight wars without killing people, our military strength had huge non-military advantages. When developed countries were willing to destroy each other, our ability to guarantee safety and victory in any conflict won us many loyal friends. Who would try to invade Canada when the US had their back? Even the smallest country was safe if they made sure to be good friends with the US. That has huge economic and political value. That tends to prevent wars from even starting and stabilize the planet, at least for countries who could be valuable allies of the sole super-power. If your county REALLY misbehaved, such as by invading your tiny neighbor, we could simply blow you off the face of the planet and that discouraged such aggression. Today, though, in a world where "we're not at war with their country, just their leaders," we can't afford billions of dollars for a new plane. We should keep in mind, though, that China very much wants to take over the advantages of being sole-superpower, replacing the United States. To the extent that we want to see freedom spread through the world rather than dictatorial communism, we must be ready to go toe to toe economically, politically, and militarily.
|