User:Conservative/military

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Top 10 militaries by strength: USA ranked the strongest in the world

Rankings of the world's top militaries:

Articles may not take into account alliances such as NATO, Aukus, etc. NATO has a provision that an attack on one country is an attack on all of the countries. See: NATO articles and videos

The U.S.-Japan Alliance (日米同盟, Nichi-Bei Dōmei) is a military alliance between Japan and the United States of America, as codified in the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, which was first signed in 1951, took effect in 1952, and was amended in 1960.[1]

Articles:

Map of the United States

USA ranked the highest in the world:

Videos:

U.S. Military Strength: USA ranked strongest in the world

USA ranked the highest in the world:

Resources which reflect wanting the USA to be the policeman of the world rather than a more isolationist view. Interventionalist view

Video:

John Joseph Mearsheimer and U.S., China and Russia in relation to them being great powers

The United States will likely be the strongest country for the foreseeable future and this is due to the strengths of the USA and partly due to the weaknesses of China and Russia.

See: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future

John Mearsheimer, is an American political scientist and international relations scholar, who belongs to the realist school of international relations and teaches at the University of Chicago.

In his 2023 interview with the South China Morning Post, Professor John Joseph Mearsheimer stated about U.S. relations with China and Russia:

“ The Americans have a vested interest in pivoting full force to East Asia, to contain China. The Americans view China as a more serious threat than Russia. It’s very important to understand that China is a peer competitor to the United States. China is a rising great power and is a threat to the US in ways that Russia is not. So the Americans have a vested interest in not getting bogged down in a war in eastern Europe, more specifically in Ukraine.

Furthermore, they have a vested interest in doing everything they can to make sure that Russia and China are not close allies. What happens as a result of the Ukraine war is that it’s almost impossible for the US to fully pivot in Asia.[1]

”

However, China has grown considerably weaker in terms of it economy (Military power rest on economic power since militaries are expensive and need funding): Skepticism about China remaining a global power

In addition, please read: The United States will be the leading power in the world for the foreseeable future

In his March 2022 interview with The New Yorker, Mearsheimer indicated:

“ I’m talking about the raw-power potential of Russia—the amount of economic might it has. Military might is built on economic might. You need an economic foundation to build a really powerful military. To go out and conquer countries like Ukraine and the Baltic states and to re-create the former Soviet Union or re-create the former Soviet Empire in Eastern Europe would require a massive army, and that would require an economic foundation that contemporary Russia does not come close to having. There is no reason to fear that Russia is going to be a regional hegemony in Europe. Russia is not a serious threat to the United States. We do face a serious threat in the international system. We face a peer competitor. And that’s China. Our policy in Eastern Europe is undermining our ability to deal with the most dangerous threat that we face today.[2] ”

In 2014, Mearsheimer said: "Russia is a declining power, and it will only get weaker with time."[3]

Global power website

Russia's challenges in protecting its borders: Arguments that Russia is a failed state

"Britannica explained that a failed state is the one that “cannot protect its national boundaries.” April 26, 2023 head of the Russian Committee of defense of the Russian State Duma suggested that Russian citizens should be mobilized to protect Russian borders acknowledging that Russia has no resources for that, comparing the current inability of the state to the previous mighty USSR." - Russia has failed as a state, Modern Diplomacy, 2023.

In addition, the Ukrainians invading Russia in a surprise attack in the Kursk region of Russia in August of 2024 demonstrates that Russia cannot protect its border. In November of 2024, the Ukrainians still occupied some territory in Kursk.

For more information, please see: Will Russia become a failed state within 10 years? Is Russia currently a failed state? Will Russia eventually become a failed state?

Russian military and comparisons with other armed forces

Russian military compared to the Israel army


The Israeli flag


Russian military vs. NATO

Videos:

Facts related to NATO and miscellaneous:

The United States States has a significant number of allies and strategic partnerships such as the: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (NATO is made up of 32 countries. In 2024, the combined population of the 32 member countries of NATO was about 973 million people[4] and the combined GDP of all 32 NATO members was $45.93319 trillion.[5]); Aukus (a trilateral security partnership for the Indo-Pacific region between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States); the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the Organization of American States (OAS). See: Who Are the US Allies: A Comprehensive Guide to America’s Key International Partnerships and Advancing U.S. Alliances and Partnerships through Security Sector Governance Initiatives

As of 2024, the USA pays 16% of NATO's total budget.[3]

Russia getting pummeled in wars in Russian history that hyper Russophiles will not tell you about

Russian military technology and Russia's brain drain due to many technical/educated people leaving Russia due to the war in Ukraine

See also: Russia's brain drain and Russia's economy is that of a shrinking, aging, and poorly qualified population and Russian diaspora

The Russian Federation ranks 59th in the 2024 Global Innovation Index.[4] "The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for, and success in, innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business (a British magazine)". In addition, due to the war in Ukraine, Russia lost about 900,000 people who were technical/educated people beyond high school. See: Russia's brain drain.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, a frequent critic of the United States, admitted about American's openness, open-mindedness and creativity: "I like the creativity. Creativity when it comes to tackling your country's problems. They're openness. Openness and open-mindedness. Because it allows them to unleash the inner potential of their people. And because of that America has achieved such amazing results."[6] See: United States and innovation

Russian military

A Russian soldier cutting barbed wire at the Battle of Stalingrad

Russian Army

Russian army and logistics:

"The history of war proves that nine out of ten times an army has been destroyed because its supply lines have been cut off...” - General Douglas MacArthur.

Logistics quotes:

General Robert H. Barrow of the Marine Corps emphasized that amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics. Forget being an armchair general. If you want to be a pro, start with logistics 101.

General Robert H. Barrow, USMC (1980): “Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics.”

"Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, USN said, "Logistics is as vital to military success as daily food is to daily work".

Russian air force

Source: Has Russia’s military improved enough to take on NATO?, 2024

Bomber jet Su-24.
"Perhaps the weakest of Russia’s military branches is its air force.
Its consistently poor performance is matched by poor doctrine and equipment losses that have been hard to replace. Unlike Western militaries, Russia’s air force isn’t trained for strategic air campaigns, focusing solely on supporting ground units where needed.
Despite being at least four times the size of Ukraine’s, it was unable to destroy airfields, ammunition dumps, and radar sites in the opening hours of the invasion.
This is very different to Western air forces which, while also supporting ground units, are able to comprehensively blind its enemy, destroying key targets and large formations on the ground. They can cause strategic damage in the opening minutes of any conflict, enabling their forces to advance relatively unhindered.
In an effort to offset this weakness, long-range missiles have been used to great effect, penetrating deep into Ukraine despite Kyiv’s comprehensive air defences.
Iranian drones used as cheap cruise missiles are launched in barrages, soaking up and threatening to overwhelm Ukrainian defences.
The air force has leveraged its stand-off capabilities and launches glide bombs, often from within Russia that are accurate down to a few metres, their large warheads easily destroying Ukrainian targets."

Russian mercenary leader Georgy Zakrevsky: "Drones are flying all over central Russia, right up to Moscow and St. Petersburg. They even attacked the Kremlin."[5], The Hill, 2024

Russian navy

"The outlook is a return to the underinvestment and decay of the 1990s.
Efforts to get major warships back to sea, such as the carrier Admiral Kutzenov or battle cruiser Admiral Nakhimov, increasingly seem like a Pyrrhic victories. The sunk cost of these modernizations appear now to be a question of national pride more than increasing naval capabilities. There are reports in Russian State media that the Nakhimov will sail for the first time in around 25 years this month. But there is a significant caveat; it will sail without its nuclear reactors running. While there may be some practical value to these plans, they appear more for show. The Soviet practice of symbolic milestones just before year end is alive and well.
"The Russian Navy’s modernization plans are now significantly curtailed. Russia may be hoping that the incoming government in Washington will push a favourable solution in Ukraine, but the damage to their their naval plans already appears too deep."

Russian mercenary leader Georgy Zakrevsky: "Our Black Sea fleet is being pushed out. It’s being pushed out as if we were not a great power with a great fleet, but some third-rate country."[6], The Hill, 2024

Russian army vs. guerilla warfare

The Russian military and corruption

The article Russian military’s corruption quagmire states about the war in Ukraine:

“ On the operational level, the corruption in defense procurement has also likely undermined logistics, manifesting in soldiers receiving inadequate equipment and supplies on the ground. Poor logistics slows down the advancement of troops, undermines their morale and hinders military effectiveness.

Early on in the invasion, there were accounts indicating that some Russian soldiers received rations that had expired in 2015. Most companies responsible for providing food to the Russian military are connected to Yevgeny Prigozhin — the patron of PMC Wagner, the mercenary organization, and sponsor of the Internet Research Agency, which has been accused of meddling in the United States elections. Several years ago, Prigozhin’s companies were accused by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny of forming a cartel and gaming the state’s bidding system for defense orders, receiving contracts for several hundred million dollars. The quality of food and housing in the Russian military is reportedly worse than in its prisons, with unreasonably small meals and some carrying harmful Escherichia coli bacteria.

There are also reports that Russian advances in Ukraine were slowed by lack of fuel — and this in a country rich with oil and gas. But ineffective control over fuel consumption in the Russian military actually long preceded the war in Ukraine and had historically created opportunities for embezzlement — that is why fuel is often called the Russian military’s “second currency.” It is plausible that the long-standing tradition of corruption in fuel supply decreased the pace of Russian advancement in Ukraine.[7]

”

Recommended articles:

Recommended videos:

Military readiness in the future: The main consequences of Russia's demographic crisis according to the Russian demographer Salavat Abylkalikov

The Russian demographer Salavat Abylkalikov says the main consequences of Russia's demographic crisis will be the following:

“ According to the average version of the UN forecast, Russia's population by 2050 may be about 133.4 million people, which is 14th in the world and below countries such as Egypt, the Philippines, and Mexico. But if Russia goes not according to the average, but according to the low option that is quite likely at the present time, then with a population of 123.2 million people we will drop to 16th place and will already be neighbors with Tanzania and Vietnam. Thus, the price of switching to the low scenario could be -10 million people, as well as a decrease in the place in the top countries in terms of population. Moreover, the low version of the UN forecast did not include too low or even negative migration growth.

A smaller population means a country's lower economic potential, a shrinking domestic market, worsening demographic problems and an aging population, as well as a decrease in the country's geopolitical power. The population size still correlates with the weight in international relations, the ability to promote their interests on the world stage. And the declining population for the largest country in the world may cause some neighbors on the continent, especially the eastern ones, to be tempted to solve their internal growing problems by some external adventures. But will Russia find anyone and how to fight back, will there be allies?[8]

”

"Russia is a declining power, and it will only get weaker with time." - International relations scholar John Mearsheimer

For more information, please see: Russia is dying out. The war in Ukraine is making Russia's demographic crisis even worse

Better demographics and a country being a stronger power

USA and demographics and it being favorable to other major powers

Military, wars, mass murder and expense

WWII photo montage

"The level of war in the world seems to have risen to 1989 (post-WWII) peak levels and holding, ending the pacific 1989-2006 era. Does this contradict the Decline of Violence (Pinker) / End of History (Fukuyama) theses, or is it just a blip?". - Professor Eric Kaufmann, Twitter/X.[7], See: War and Peace.

War, debt and the collapse of empires

How long do wars last?

Wars start out as wars of maneuver. If a war a war of maneuver doesn't achieve victory in 6 months, then it most cases it turns into a war of attrition (Wars of attrition are more common than insurgencies after a war).[8]

Wars are ended by removing an enemies will to fight and/or ability to fight (Productive capacity)[9]

  • "Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." - Sun Tzu
  • "What is essential in war is victory, not prolonged operations." - Sun Tzu
  • "There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare." - Sun Tzu

How long do post WWII wars last? Some statistics:

Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization & think tank analyzing global issues.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies article How Does It End? What Past Wars Tell Us about How to Save Ukraine

“ Analyzing data compiled by the Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) on conflict termination since 1946, 26 percent of interstate wars like Ukraine end in less than 30 days and another 25 percent end in less than a year. Wars that end within a month last on average eight days, and 44 percent end in a ceasefire or peace agreement. Of wars that last over a month but less than a year, only 24 percent end in a ceasefire. When interstate wars last longer than a year, they extend to over a decade on average, resulting in sporadic clashes.[9] ”
Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies indicates that most wars lasting over a year extend to over a decade on average, resulting in sporadic clashes.[10]

Just war vs. realist view of war

Winning the peace vs. winning a war

Military

Wars and warlike natures

Studies:

Democratic peace theory and related matters

Mass murder

Right-wing death squads vs. Left-wing murderous regimes

Military concepts

Carl von Clausewitz

Military competence and incompetence

  • Task and purpose (Chris Cappy is a former US Army infantryman and Iraq Veteran. I cover geopolitics, history, weapon systems and all things military related — I do this from a veteran's perspective.).

Military competence

  • Deliberate Discomfort: How U.S. Special Operations Forces Overcome Fear and Dare to Win by Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable by Jason B.A. Van Camp and Andy Symonds. Ballast Books (February 18, 2020)

Military incompetence

  • On the Psychology of Military Incompetence by Norman F Dixon. Basic Books; Illustrated edition (May 31, 2016)
  • Military Incompetence: Why the American Military Doesn't Win (American Century) by Richard A. Gabriel. Hill & Wang Pub; First Edition (January 1, 1985)

Are we headed towards WW3? It's not likely - at least not yet

Victories in war are not necessarily won by winning battles. Wars can be won by eliminating the enemies will to fight which is a critical factor in winning wars

"Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."- Sun Tzu

In the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese consistently lost the bigger battles and the U.S. General Westmoreland was obsessed about body counts that showed the USA was "winning". However, although the Tet Offensive was not ultimately not a successful operation militarily, it did win on the propaganda front because it showed the American public that the Vietcong were not on their last legs. Specifically, the Tiet Offensive showed that the Vietmanese still had power to oppose the USA via a large operation and as a result of this the American public soured on the war. One does not win wars solely by winning battles. Breaking the will of the enemy is a key component as far as how wars are won (And wars are generally governed by politics[11]). Near the end of the Vietnam War at the peace negotiations, the American officer Harry Summers said to a Vietcong colonel that the USA won on the battlefield and the Vietcong did not. The Vietcong colonel replied back, that's true, but it is also irrelevant.[12] It was the political context that was more important in the Vietnam War than the military context. But ultimately the the USA won the peace in Vietnam as evidenced by all the Coca Cola now being sold in Vietnam and the current cordial relations between the USA and Vietnam.

One of the things the Russians may face in Ukraine if they win a pyrrhic victory is a Ukrainian insurgency that wears down the Russians. Most insurgencies are not successful and last about 10 years.[13][14] However, The Troubles insurgency in Northern Ireland lasted about 30 years and perhaps the same could happen in Ukraine due to the bitterness of the conflict and due to the intensity of Ukrainian nationalism. This may come into play because of two factors: First, Russia defector reveals 'majority' of people inside Kremlin unhappy with war in Ukraine, ABC News video, July 2023. This shows that some of the will to fight in the Kremlin may have been diminished (But Putin likely calls the shots so this issue is not a definitive point). Secondly, as far as the Kursk invasion, the inability of the Russian state to protect its borders shows this: Russia has failed as a state, Modern Diplomacy, 2023 and Almost half of global strategists think Russia could become a failed state within the next 10 years, Fortune magazine, January 23, 2023 and Will Russia become a failed state within 10 years? Is Russia currently a failed state? Will Russia eventually become a failed state?

"Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." - Sun Tzu


International relations and politics

References

  1. ↑ The West needs to prepare for ‘ugly’ Russian victory in Ukraine, which will reward China, leading US political scientist warns, South China Morning Post
  2. ↑ Why John Mearsheimer Blames the U.S. for the Crisis in Ukraine, The New Yorker, March 2022
  3. ↑ Why the Ukraine Crisis Is the West’s Fault, Foreign Affairs, Published August 18, 2014
  4. ↑ NATO alliances, Worddata.info website
  5. ↑ Funding NATO, NATO website
  6. ↑ Preview: Vladimir Putin reveals what he admires about America, CBS News, 2016
  7. ↑ Russian military’s corruption quagmire, Politico, 2022
  8. ↑ "Until the end of the century, we will be enough." Demographer Salavat Abylkalikov - about whether Russia is dying and what to do about it, Russian demographer Salavat Abylkalikov
  9. ↑ How Does It End? What Past Wars Tell Us about How to Save Ukraine, 2022, Center for Strategic and International Studies website
  10. ↑ How Does It End? What Past Wars Tell Us about How to Save Ukraine, 2022, Center for Strategic and International Studies website
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