Just like climate deals, they are intended to hobble us and allow our adversaries to flourish
The money is insignificant compared to the strategic failures. It appears that at present neither Russia nor China are interested in starting a full blown arms race – though my impression could be mistaken. But allowing this will give them a large head start should they change their minds down the road.
My model of this is the arms race that happened during the Weimar Republic and after the Nazis took over Germany. My understanding is that the German military from the moment of defeat at the end of the First World War, planned how to win the next world war. Prior to 1932 (when Hitler became Chancellor), the schemes were relatively low key. They conducted a great deal of secretive research, preserved their General Staff organization, conducted a great deal of crime – including a fair number of murders, and preserved their sergeant-level personnel. Most of this was in outright violation of the Treaty of Versailles which was explicitly intended to prevent Germany from doing that, among other things.
Then when Hitler took over (1932-1933), the German military had ready plans in place for ramping up the German military, leap-frogging all the neighboring powers, and establishing itself as the superpower of Europe before its enemies could react. The Nazis implemented this plan very aggressively, triggering the Second World War a few years later.
The details mentioned in the article sound similar to the early phases of German remilitarization while it was still covert. It may be that neither Russia or China intend to turn this military edging into a future arms race. But the more they are allowed to do so, the more likely some future leader will take advantage of it.
My take is that the worst warmongers on the planet are the peace at any price types. Peace becomes very expensive when they’re in charge.
If other countries decide it is in their best interest to build and maintain a nuclear arsenal there is little we can do in most cases to stop them which is just fine. The maintenance and upkeep are horrendous. The value of those radioactive turds sitting around sucking up resources will quickly become a questionable value that they’re now politically stuck with.
Just like climate deals, they are intended to hobble us and allow our adversaries to flourish
The money is insignificant compared to the strategic failures. It appears that at present neither Russia nor China are interested in starting a full blown arms race – though my impression could be mistaken. But allowing this will give them a large head start should they change their minds down the road.
My model of this is the arms race that happened during the Weimar Republic and after the Nazis took over Germany. My understanding is that the German military from the moment of defeat at the end of the First World War, planned how to win the next world war. Prior to 1932 (when Hitler became Chancellor), the schemes were relatively low key. They conducted a great deal of secretive research, preserved their General Staff organization, conducted a great deal of crime – including a fair number of murders, and preserved their sergeant-level personnel. Most of this was in outright violation of the Treaty of Versailles which was explicitly intended to prevent Germany from doing that, among other things.
Then when Hitler took over (1932-1933), the German military had ready plans in place for ramping up the German military, leap-frogging all the neighboring powers, and establishing itself as the superpower of Europe before its enemies could react. The Nazis implemented this plan very aggressively, triggering the Second World War a few years later.
The details mentioned in the article sound similar to the early phases of German remilitarization while it was still covert. It may be that neither Russia or China intend to turn this military edging into a future arms race. But the more they are allowed to do so, the more likely some future leader will take advantage of it.
My take is that the worst warmongers on the planet are the peace at any price types. Peace becomes very expensive when they’re in charge.
If other countries decide it is in their best interest to build and maintain a nuclear arsenal there is little we can do in most cases to stop them which is just fine. The maintenance and upkeep are horrendous. The value of those radioactive turds sitting around sucking up resources will quickly become a questionable value that they’re now politically stuck with.