There is a more bleak scenario, for even the Chinese. That is world war c, an extinction event caused not by exterior mechanical forces, but one caused by an organic source, us.
Russia would have in the 1960(s) the same problems bombing the US that the US would have in bombing China today. Ignoring 1965, if we bombed China, we'd be destroying the source of a large part of what we use today, computers, televisions, cell phones, car parts, etc. This is a critical part of an economic war, to make yourself critical to your enemy. It is more subtle than stealing all manufacturing, but it exists nonetheless.
Unfortunately, there are three countries capable of destroying the world (at least) through a knee jerk reaction and the US and Russia do not need each other economically. By surrendering the economic manufacturing and accompanying technological superiority we have made ourselves more dependent on the final (nuclear) option in war and we have made ourselves more vulnerable as a target of such. We are more vulnerable because we have nothing of importance to offer the world (or much less at least) and because we are technically and militarily (military is supported by the economy which is why we've had such a large military for so long) degrading at a rate unprecedented in history.
Our politicians and those in Russia (some would say Putin controls that country alone) are so corrupted by power and the need to stay in power that they cannot see past the need to get reelected and do not look at the consequences of their actions.
Ukraine is one of many border states in the war between east and west and occupies a unique position in the war which is so much different than it was at one point in time.
Here is where I see the war between east and west:
1) First we have two Easts ad two Wests
East is divided into China/asia and what, for lack of anything better, I will call Islam
West is divided between democracy and autocracy
2) The two easts can be seen at war with the west on two fronts
Asia-economic
Islam-Philosophy (religious government vs government based on localized power)
3) The west is internally at war between two philosophies- the democratic leaning west led by the United States, the European Union and (historically) France overall bizarre, you have to admire the French for food, knowledge of the importance of economic factors like local manufacturing and local stores, and experiments, however violent and stop and go in Freedom. The other side of the internal war is see between Ukraine and the European Union and Russia, the to autocracy leader.
4) There is another battleground state which is Turkey, where western and eastern philosophies along the religions, power based governments and the outcome in Ukraine will affect the success at this point since the more that the west fights internally, the less it will be available to survive against the east economic war, by far the most important, but where less people are dying in the short run and hence less visible.
5) This leads us to the final issue, the war for dominance, based on economic power and technology as all of these wars have been based which is led in the east by China and is not led in the West. Russia is too internally conflicted and the United States too corrupt.
The play we watch today between the Ukraine and Russia is only 1/4 of the entire battle and marks an unusual side show that may struggle to take center stage...at least to the west, one thing about the east is that economically and religiously they take a longer, and therefore more sinister view and approach. The religious and economic parts of the east are totally separate 'threats' to the west; perhaps the loss of focus, the wests fights political (the unfocused corrupt us government) and the ideological (russia's current war with Ukraine) by distracting the west from the critical issues of survival and perhaps destroying both sides in this process is the biggest battle of all.
But its Sunday and I need to find something pleasant to think about.
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