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Have We Seen the Future of the 21st Century?

Much of the destiny of the 20th Century was laid out in 1919, when the Versailles Treaty was worked out. Wouldn't it be a strange coincidence if September 2019 had the same significance for the 21st Century? That is the month of the successful attack against the Saudi oil facility by drones and missiles.


The story fell off the "front pages" after only a week. But what is on the "front pages" should not concern anyone who tries to understand the world. 

Perhaps September 2019 marked the end of the American hegemony of the post-World-War-II era, and the beginning of the Chinese hegemony of the 21st Century.

The attack showed the obsolescence of the U.S. military establishment. It showed the future of military conflict, dominated by inexpensive (but electronically advanced) drones and missiles. And in turn, whoever is best at manufacturing and selling these drones and missiles will dominate the world.

China has a huge advantage at this kind of domination because it is the preeminent industrial power, just as the US was in 1945. A positive feedback loop might work like this: third world countries sell their natural resources to China, and China exports manufactured goods back to the third world countries. 

But in addition, China works the sale of drones and missiles into the transaction. The third world dictators need those weapons, desperately, which makes them sell their natural resources at low prices to China. This will help China kill off whatever industry still remains in the US and Europe. 

Meanwhile Americans will think they should continue to be the dominant military power because they have the most expensive aircraft carrier or the most advanced and expensive jet fighters. Many military experts will see the irrelevance of expensive toys, but so what?! What really matters is that ye olde military/industrial complex will cling to their traditional business model of high profits based on a small number of advanced weapons, and on the control of the US Congress.

Comments

Ed said…
You got it exactly right! The attack also showed that the United States can not provide the security that it has promised. If it can not then there is no reason for countries to do what the United States wants. The attack was a big game changer.

p.s. I lost you email address and phone #, send me an email.
Ed, "The attack was a big game changer." I think it WILL be a game changer for most of the world, since they might think they have something to gain from new technologies and tactics. But why should the American Military-Industrial-Congressional Complex change away from a successful track record of fleecing the public?