Yeah they don’t need a big military. They can just call in debt or flip off the manufacturing switch that supplies the rest of the world and they’ve already mostly won.
I really hope we in the West wouldn’t just fold the moment “ABBEXA childrens plastic bucket fun water toy for family” gets cut off, but the thing about civilian manufacturing is that it can be converted to military manufacturing. One moment it’s making buckets, the next it’s making covers for mines. And, the sector isn’t even bad quality anymore; it’s not as good as CNC nerds in Germany, but their stuff will work at a basic level and arrive on schedule. Meanwhile, the need to supply Ukraine has exposed that our own manufacturing, while advanced and awesome, doesn’t scale very easily.
It’s all a bit academic because of MAD, but the main reason I think we’d have a shot in a conventional war is that the professionals seem to think we’d have a shot.
Russia turned out to be world’s best paper tiger
That’s probably still China, lots of money invested but their actual combat movements look horrific. Their special forces are legit very good though.
A billion people and the largest basic manufacturing capability full stop scares the bejesus out of me, I don’t care if they can’t march straight.
I also have no reason to expect they’re anywhere near as incompetent. Probably just normal dictatorship levels.
Yeah they don’t need a big military. They can just call in debt or flip off the manufacturing switch that supplies the rest of the world and they’ve already mostly won.
I really hope we in the West wouldn’t just fold the moment “ABBEXA childrens plastic bucket fun water toy for family” gets cut off, but the thing about civilian manufacturing is that it can be converted to military manufacturing. One moment it’s making buckets, the next it’s making covers for mines. And, the sector isn’t even bad quality anymore; it’s not as good as CNC nerds in Germany, but their stuff will work at a basic level and arrive on schedule. Meanwhile, the need to supply Ukraine has exposed that our own manufacturing, while advanced and awesome, doesn’t scale very easily.
It’s all a bit academic because of MAD, but the main reason I think we’d have a shot in a conventional war is that the professionals seem to think we’d have a shot.
That’s what tends to happen when you don’t invade anyone for forty years. We should all strive to have China’s level of military readiness.
Nah I have issue with having a well prepared military, I have an issue with finding excuses to use it.