The future of war: James Stavridis on China, Russia, and the biggest security threats to the US

[@Vicky-Blue]

Our greatest threat is ourselves.

[@dartvader4081]

Yes, by far.

[@davidlai399]

Hmm…who left Afghanistan in the middle of the night, leaving behind billions in military equipments?

[@DouglasW-m9z]

😂you are making fun of the American government? As if they didn't learned the lesson from Vietnam, when they left Saigon balls between their legs

[@davideverett5214]

Who negotiated with terrorists instead of the Afghanistan government... Biden had little choice because of trumps actions.

[@bamzoclub9894]

I thought the USA is the biggest security threat to every country in the world? Strange that you got it the wrong way?

[@joshuapaul2022]

Stavridis keeps living in a fantasy world.

[@mengjiang5217]

The fact that China doesn’t have a general that has seen any fighting indicated it’s a more peaceful country than ……

[@ZhangWei02]

Lol, the Korean war? The invasion of Vietnam, Tibet? And now threatening the conquering of Taiwan? Okay ...

[@sextusfurius8473]

@@ZhangWei02 Yes. The latest war that you mentioned was over 45 years ago. The above commenter is correct.

[@dartvader4081]

... the US of (A)IPAC.

[@TonyVCetinski]

@@ZhangWei02 China didn't invade Vietnam. Instead Vietnam invaded china, china pushed Vietnam forces back to the actual border.. you listen to Western media too much. 1.6B at work 😂😂

[@jordanpack5571]

Thank you, Ian!

[@LetoAtreides-i4c]

There are a couple of inaccuracies. The stranded Philippine ship Sierra Madre is in the Second Thomas Shoal, not the Scarborough Shoal. Geographically, Taiwan is not the door to the South China Sea, it's the Malacca strait. Spratly islands and the surrounding waters are very close to that, which is part of the reason why China is competing with other littoral states in laying claims to the reefs and islands there. Vietnam actually controls the largest number of reefs in the Spratly. One important point that is almost always missing in the Western discourse on Taiwan is that the reason China is increasing military pressure on Taiwan is because under Taiwan's ruling party DPP, it is moving closer and closer towards independence and closing the door to the possibility of peaceful reunification, which US is implicitly encouraging as part of the intensifying geopolitical competition with China. No Chinese leader, whether authoritarian or democratically elected, could allow Taiwan to become independent. As long as this Chinese concern is not addressed, we will be inching ever closer toward war. By intentionally ignoring this key factor behind the rising tensions, western commentators are prioritizing winning the geopolitical competition against China over preserving the status quo and peace in the region.

[@casey203]

I hate to disagree with someone way more experienced and qualified than me on warfare. But it seems pretty clear that the lessons of Ukraine are: You can’t have enough FPV drones and Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Infantry is still vital on the offensive and defensive. And finally Artillery is still the King of Battle. But long range missile artillery and air defense batteries are now a vital part of the artillery mix. Every battle on land in Ukraine has been decided by those three things. Seems crazy to see that and then decide that Cyber, special forces, are the other two pillars of war. Drones is the only pillar I agree with.

[@dm-rj2zg]

Even though he's been retired for a while, there's still probably a lot that he knows about this war that he isn't saying aloud for opsec purposes (and not wanting to get UCMJ'd) which I'm sure has affected his conclusions

[@casey203]

@@dm-rj2zg I hope so. But as a person who reads history I do have to mention that the military professionals almost always get the “future” of warfare very wrong. In his defense, history also shows us that you fight with the army and equipment you have not the army and equipment you want. So it’s possible that Russia and Ukraine are still infantry and artillery heavy simply because that’s what they had when the bullets started flying. Maybe more quality special forces and AI would have been way more useful but simply weren’t available. I did however notice Russia’s attempt to use lots of special forces and cyber attacks early on to spearhead the attack on Kiev was a complete disaster.

[@sommmeguy]

But where is the air war? It seems Russia refuses to commit its airforce to the fight, so we get artillery battles and trenches. I don't know much about war, but it seems the drones are the deciding factor in the Ukraine war. Once the drones are fully automated and controlled by AI, they will be invincible. And we'll all be living in a dystopian nightmare.

[@casey203]

@@sommmeguy because both sides of have advanced anti air missile batteries planes and helicopters are no longer as useful. The air defense has made cheap expendable drones the only viable option near the front lines. The Russian Air Force is still a major factor but they are mostly used as long ranged artillery. They lob glided bombs from behind their own lines and turn around. Otherwise they will be shot down. In a near peer war NATO can’t depend on having air superiority and flying close range air support anymore. The days of dog fighting have been long gone.

[@feralmode]

@@sommmeguy "russia refuses to commit its airforce to the fight". You never heard of glide bombs, guy?

[@carson3210]

Outstanding! A must listen for all the world leaders!

[@jaythefox]

Damn I didn't know Joe Pesci was a national security expert!

[@thomascrew8268]

This was wonderful

[@thomaswall4699]

Cheerleaders for American hegemony and endless wars.

[@PhilipWong55]

Meanwhile, back at the range, regardless of who is elected as president, many Americans continue to face long-standing challenges: economic inequality, persistent inflation, stagnant wages, soaring healthcare costs, a student loan debt crisis nearing $1.7 trillion, and an education system with increasingly unaffordable tuition. Issues like inadequate public transportation, racial inequality, mass incarceration, militarized policing, crumbling infrastructure, unaffordable housing, homelessness, the opioid epidemic, and gun violence also remain pressing concerns for millions. The Godless Chinese government is denying its citizens from enjoying any of the above benefits that US citizens enjoy. While the United States is the world's wealthiest nation with unmatched military power, it struggles to address these systemic issues. For many, the normalization of such inequality and hardship has become a part of daily life, raising important questions about the government’s role in fostering a fairer, more just society. When a government allows these persistent challenges to go unaddressed, it risks losing legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens. A system that tolerates widespread domestic inequality may, in turn, influence how it approaches global relations, potentially reinforcing disparities abroad. Since WWII, the United States has started 201 wars, overthrew 36 foreign leaders, killed or attempted to kill 50, dropped bombs in 30 countries, and interfered in 86 foreign elections. To make the world safe for democracy, the US has caused the deaths of tens of millions of people in its conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. The CIA was involved in covert operations that resulted in mass killings of communists in over 22 countries, 500,000 to 2,000,000 Indonesian civilians disappeared in 1965-1966.

[@tadaye369]

What an imaginary world he is living in!

[@scottgaillard8486]

5 stars

[@sommmeguy]

Why are Americans obsessed with illegal immigration on their southern border when statistically about half of all illegal immigrants enter via airports all over the country and then overstay? It's almost as if the leaders don't really want to solve the problem. Also, isn't the US lack of ship building capabilities a cause for national defense concern? Maybe restore that ship building capacity and train your surplus of immigrants to build ships.

[@mikestewart4752]

China has a major problem, well, several actually… Their hardware is absolute JUNK being the primary. Anyone know where a guy can get a deal on a never-used “top-o-the-line” nuclear submarine? 🤦

[@Wanderingsomewhere145]

Not from China. Theirs sink in port.

[@mikestewart4752]

@@Wanderingsomewhere145 or get snagged up in their own anti-sub defences. 🤦

[@kshen7485]

What a brainwashed!

[@kshen7485]

Are all those USA business people, who import enormous “Made in China” to USA, brainwashed by dictatorship China?

[@mikestewart4752]

@@kshen7485 “Cull ALL the Sparrows!”-Mao Zedong “Egg Fried Rice anyone?-Mao Anying “Me like left nostril most!”-Mao Xinyu “I’LL plan the economy!”-Mao Jinpork “China is safest county in world!”-Xu Ganlu “Corruption is rampant in China!”-Victor Gao “This is an isolated incident.” - Various CCP puppets Speaking of brainwashing… 🤦🐷

[@Watchdog457]

and israel

[@kshen7485]

Why would Ian promote his views? It certainly demeans Ian.

[@kshen7485]

Internal main threat should be the wrong domestic system and policy, instead of some single person or citizens. James really deserved to retire without showing off his out of dated again.