Excerpted from the 2024 Annual Report to Congress, P. 151 Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China Aviation Industry The PRC is advancing its domestic aviation industry through two major state-owned aircraft corporations, the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). … Continue reading
Category Archives: Cold War
Breaking the Impasse
Preface The world has reached a critical point analogous to 1913, when the German and British Empires were locked into a race for naval supremacy. The difference between then and now is that at that time neither one had weapons with which to destroy the world. In view of the … Continue reading
China vs. U.S – PPP
GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, is calculating by summing up the total value of all final goods and services produced within a country’s borders during a specific period, typically a year or a quarter. There are three main approaches to calculate GDP: the expenditure approach, the income approach, and the … Continue reading
Similarities and Differences Between China and the U.S.
Water The U.S. has 45% of all the freshwater in the world and approximately 4.22% of the world’s population. In the U.S., approximately 35% of the land in the lower 48 states is classified as arid or semi-arid. This includes regions like the Great Basin (most of Nevada, half of … Continue reading
China’s Shipbuilding Capacity
China’s shipbuilding capacity is believed to be over 230 times greater than that of the United States. Chinese shipyards produce roughly 23.2 million tons, accounting for over 50% of the world’s mechant tonnage produced. In contrast, capacity of the U.S. is less than 100,000 tons, or 0.1% of global production. … Continue reading
U.S.-China GDP by PPP 2017 & British-German GDP 1913
In just over 100 years the pattern is eerily similar; and so is the possibility of a similar confrontation and for the same reasons: the Thucydides Trap. We all know the tragic loss of lives and treasure in World War I and its follow-up, World War II. But all-out war … Continue reading
History of the Gulf of Mexico
The Spanish discoverer of the Gulf was Sebastián de Ocampo, who circumnavigated the island of Cuba in 1508. The Gulf was unnamed until the early 1540s and was considered part of the Atlantic Ocean. The earliest maps referred to the Gulf as Seno Mejicano or Golfo de la Nueva España, … Continue reading
Perceived Flaws – 2024 National Security Report
Authorities The Commission on the National Defense Strategy was established by Section 195 of the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 117-81). It is composed by eight members from private civilian life who are recognized experts in matters relating to the national security of the United States. … Continue reading
National Security of the U.S.
Bill Clinton’s National Security Strategy (NSS), published in 1995, four years after the fall of the Soviet Union, was a watershed document. Entitled ‘A National Security Strategy of Engagement and Enlargement’, it unabashedly stated that “we have… initiated a process that will lead to NATO’s expansion”. Worth noting is that … Continue reading
National Interests
“It is a truism (and truisms are often overlooked by busy people) that British interests are not confined to British territory. They do not end, that is to say, where foreign territory begins. If this were only so, the world would be an infinitely simpler place, where we should have … Continue reading