As Long as the Japanese-US Alliance Holds, There Will Be No War With China

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2014/10/10/as-long-as-the-japanese-us-alliance-holds-there-will-be-no-war-with-china/



Currently, the U.S. is the champion, and maintaining the status quo is to its benefit.

As Long as the Japanese-US Alliance Holds, There Will Be No War With China
Published in Sankei News (Japan) on 30 September 2014 by Tomohide Murai (professor at the National Defense Academy of Japan) [link to original]
Translated from Japanese by Thomas S. Evans. Edited by Nicholas Eckart.
Posted on October 10, 2014.

War is the greatest disaster that can befall mankind. When one wishes to prevent a disaster, it is important to be in the habit of maintaining policies that can do so.

According to power shift theory, the outbreak of war follows a pattern; namely, war occurs when a militarily weak nation expands its military prowess, until it realizes that it has exceeded the military power of its neighbors. In this situation, the newly-empowered nation attempts to overthrow the formerly powerful states around it — in other words, the weak states of today — in order to cement its newly acquired position, resulting in war—a war of opportunity.

Nuclear Weapons Safeguard Against Large-Scale War

Currently, the U.S. is in possession of several thousand nuclear weapons and several hundred intercontinental ballistic missiles. With over 10 aircraft carriers in active deployment as well, it is the most powerful nation on earth. However, China is in the midst of a modernization program that includes several hundred nuclear weapons, some tens of ICBMs, and the construction of aircraft carriers. Perhaps a reversal of the current American military balance is upon us.

There are both large-scale wars and small-scale wars. Were both the U.S. and China to enter into a large-scale war, there is the possibility that each would be exposed to the nuclear attacks of the other. As of today, there is nothing either country could gain from a war that would be worth risking victims of nuclear assaults. For that reason, the possibility of a large-scale war between the U.S. and China is small.