General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: do people today understand what war with Russia would mean? [View all]proudretiredvet
(312 posts)But in this I hope our leaders do clearly see that there is high value in forward deployment and deterrence. It is always cheaper to deter an armed engagement than to have to redeploy and fight.
Putin knows that President Obama will not order any kind of armed response to his invasion as long as it doesn't blow up into a bigger conflict.
The main miscalculation that is up front in my mind right now is if the NK punk leader decides he can get away with a big one too because he believes we will fail to respond to his aggression as well.
If the NK's did start pushing with military force I'm sure Obama would feel the need to change the worlds perception of his total lack of military resolve and engage NK very quickly.
There are also some islands that China and Japan are pissing and moaning about right now. We have sided with Japan but China may decide that those commitments are hollow and not a threat.
Then there is another pissing contest going about other islands that both China and the Philippines claim. Again we took the side against China but things do happen when power shifts.
Right now the world balance of power does not have a firm and broad foundation. Many things could trigger it's collapse.