How The United States Would Fight China

For thousands of years, military engagements between opposing nations and societies have had important effects on all aspects of human civilization. While the most direct and recognizable impacts of war are the victories and defeats that shape the course of history, warfare also affects human culture in ways that are not always appreciated or understood.

In 1920, nobody wanted war in Europe.In every village, the war had taken the lives of many young men, and everybody wanted peace.

A look inside the weaponization of social media, and an innovative proposal for protecting Western democracies from information warfare.

Get a unique and rewarding view of world history by immersing yourself in the fascinating story of the discoveries, inventions, upheavals, and ideas that shaped the modern world. What do the fall of Constantinople, the French Revolution, the Transcontinental Railroad, and the invention of the Internet all have in common? If any one of these turning points had not occurred, or had occurred differently, the trajectory of modern history—and even your life—would have been dramatically altered.

It possesses nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them, and despite some progress, it is by no means clear that the ongoing six-party talks will be able to reveal the full extent of the country s nuclear activities, much less persuade Pyongyang to give them up.
The United States maintains tens of thousands of forces on the Korean peninsula in support of its commitments to the Republic of Korea (South Korea), a country with which the North is still technically at war. And the peninsula sits in a strategically vital region, where the United States, China, Russia, Japan, and South Korea all have important interests at stake.
All of this puts a premium on close attention to and knowledge of developments in North Korea. Unfortunately, Kim Jong-Il s government is perhaps the world s most difficult to read or even see. This Council Special Report, commissioned by CFR s Center for Preventive Action and authored by Paul B. Stares and Joel S. Wit, focuses on how to manage one of the central unknowns: the prospect of a change in North Korea s leadership. The report examines three scenarios: managed succession, in which the top post transitions smoothly; contested succession, in which government officials or factions fight for power after Kim s demise; and failed succession, in which a new government cannot cement its legitimacy, possibly leading to North Korea s collapse. The authors consider the challenges that these scenarios would pose ranging from securing Pyongyang s nuclear arsenal to providing humanitarian assistance and analyze the interests of the United States and others. They then provide recommendations for U.S. policy. In particular, they urge Washington to bolster its contingency planning and capabilities in cooperation with South Korea, Japan, and others, and to build a dialogue with China that could address each side s concerns.