America is a military colossus. The Bush administration has proposed spending US$515 billion next year on the military - more, adjusted for inflation, than at any time since the second world war. The US accounts for half the world's military outlays.
Washington is allied with every major industrialised state except China and Russia. Russia has become rather contentious of late, but that hardly makes it an enemy; the same with China. But China could ultimately face America as a peer. American advocates of the 'China-as-the-enemy' thesis contend that Beijing is determined to wage war against the US. Other policymakers argue that China could become a threat, so Washington needs to enhance its alliances and forces in East Asia.
China has announced a 17.6 per cent rise in military spending this year, bringing it to US$58.8 billion, but that figure is incomplete at best and misleading at worst. This uncertainty worries the Pentagon. But the US Defence Department is even more concerned that the Chinese are spending too much, which essentially means developing a military which could, one day, successfully confront American forces.
China has numerous reasons for seeking to create a superior military, ranging from protecting its resource access to expanding its international influence. However, it appears to have another, more basic, goal. As the Pentagon observes in its new report on Chinese military spending: 'A potential military confrontation with Taiwan, and the prospect of US military intervention, remain the [People's Liberation Army's] most immediate military concerns.'
That does not mean Beijing expects to match America's military; it is seeking to deter America from deploying its more powerful forces. Beijing is probably not plotting the conquest of South Korea, Australia, Japan and, ultimately, the North American continent. It does not seem interested in committing global aggression, initiating a world war and wrecking its own future. All this means Washington should not fret. If the goal is defending America, the US possesses sufficiency today. Just catching up with America will be a daunting task for China.
The essential point of military power is that it is a lot easier to defend and deter than attack and defeat. That is why Washington spends so much on the military today.
Very few of America's military assets are devoted to defending the US. Most of what the Pentagon does involves defending and dominating other nations. Deployments across Asia and Europe made sense in the immediate aftermath of the second world war but are outdated today.