Peter Shr - Week 12 - America’s Military Power
The United States began as a small collection of colonies that would miraculously defeat the greatest empire in the 1700s. The assistance of France in the Revolutionary War would diminish the US’s reputation as a military power all the way to World War II, despite the US’s strides in industrialism, population, and resources. The US military was ranked seventeen on the eve of World War I, but the subsequent Cold War raised the US into one of the two superpowers in the world.
The United State’s military strength plays a deterrent role in global affairs. I seek to explore the extent of America’s arsenal, with the most notable weapon being nuclear bombs. Under physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the US pioneered nuclear weapons in Los Alamos in 1945. Since then, others came to be recognized as nuclear-weapon states, with multiple nuclear arms control treaties dictating the nature of proxy wars in modern conflicts. Russia has the most nuclear warheads, with an arsenal numbering nearly 4,500. This is followed by the US, which has around four thousand, and China, containing less than a thousand. Even though nuclear weapons only serve to raise geopolitical tensions while deterring direct engagement from the major powers, the vast drop-off in nuclear warheads between the US and China signifies the dominance of the top two countries.
While nuclear weapons represent the firepower that each state's military is capable of, other measures indicate the versatility of the US military across every domain. For instance, the United States Navy is considered the greatest in the world, having twice the amount of warships as the second greatest navy (from China) as well as five times the amount of deployed missiles. Aircraft carriers are the most powerful assets of the Navy, with the USS Gerald Ford costing over thirteen billion dollars. It is over a thousand feet long and can hold over ninety aircraft. This is just one of eleven aircraft carriers in the hands of the US, compared to China’s two. The USN also boasts the most advanced aircraft. The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation product with advanced stealth capabilities, data networking, and sensor fusion, enabling the greatest situational awareness of all jets. Moreover, the US plans to purchase an additional two thousand, outnumbering the two hundred J-20 fighters in China’s possession.
www.businessinsider.com/uss-gerald-ford-supercarrier-first-full-deployment-photos-2024-1
The United State’s imperialism behavior has provided tremendous benefits to its current military. Much like how Americanization has influenced global culture, the military has installments and bases throughout the majority of countries in the world. Compared to the American forces installed near crucial points of potential enemies, Russia and China are unable to act the same way due to the US’s isolated geography. This raises the question of whether the United States’ power is helpful to society. Complaints about military spending have become increasingly prominent in conjunction with domestic issues. Other nations have criticized the US’s desire to intervene in the name of independence or peace.
Article comparing the military of the US and China:
Hello Peter! Thank you for sharing this insightful, descriptive, and engaging blog with us! I really appreciated that you explored this topic from its conception to the present day and even drew out possible conclusions for the future. I was surprised to learn that aircraft carriers such as the Ford cost as much as they do. However, after reading our description of their sheer size and the number of aircraft they can carry, it made sense why the cost so much. Like you mentioned, the aircraft carriers, along with traditional land-based military instillations provide the United States with a global militaristic control. I wanted to discuss further the implications of the "Americanization" that has gained influence by way of the global nature of America's military.
ReplyDeleteOver the past few years, I have read in the news that at times, American bases abroad cause turmoil. In a specific case, drunken sailors from a Naval Base in Japan were drunk driving and killed innocent bystanders. This action caused vast amounts of backlash against the United States, the US Navy, and the American values that populations abroad most often consider. The accident even led to protests to call for the removal of American forces from the area. In general, the misguided actions of service members create a negative image of Americans outside of military bases. However, like you have mentioned, America's ability to have bases that are near crucial locations for potential enemies provides the nation a strong advantage in any war. The presence of an American military base also serves as a display of force and displays the morals that the United States stands for.
Once again, thank you for sharing this intriguing blog. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your take on this topic which seems to appear in the news and other media consistently. Reading your blog allowed me to take away a strong understanding of this topic; this will make me more informed when I hear reports in the news in the future.
Hi Peter,
ReplyDeleteI really liked the structure of your blog - first providing the audience with context and the history of how the United States first formed and then delving into the development of nuclear weapons and our military. I enjoyed your enlightening and detailed exploration of America’s arsenal, specifically the work of Dr. Oppenheimer and many other nuclear weapons. I certainly did not know that Russia had more nuclear warheads than the United States. While I knew that Russia and the United States did emerge as the top two superpowers in the world after World War II, I always thought that the US still had the upperhand in nuclear warheads, specifically because they built and got to the atomic bomb first. Another aspect of your blog which I thought was very insightful was the fact that you addressed both the positives and negatives of the US’s imperialism behavior. While our bases throughout many countries in the world have proved to be beneficial to our current military, I also understand why it is important to question whether it truly is beneficial to American society. The establishment of our military bases all over the world enables our country to project power, improve operational responsiveness for future contingencies, and ensure security cooperation with partnered militaries. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your blog and I believe I learned a lot about America’s military power in today’s society.
Hi Peter! I find it so interesting how a smaller army like the one of the United States was able to rise in power so much. Nuclear weapons are not something that can be ignored when it comes to military strength and this explains why countries are hesitant to get into big wars. The current ongoing war in the Middle East seems to be concentrated mainly in that area, and I could not imagine what might happen if the US directly joined in the war. I like how you mentioned that “nuclear weapons only serve to raise geopolitical tensions” because it is true that such a weapon has not been deployed against any country during combat. My brother is quite into military vehicles so when you mentioned the warships of the Navy and the F-35s, I thought about how much that costs. Even though the United States has so many F-35s, it must cost millions of dollars to maintain each one. Your examples of the prowess of the United State’s military are such a good example of how the sheer number of their arsenal can make the US so powerful. It’s also so interesting that you mentioned the geographical location of the US because that’s not something I hear as often as the sheer size of the military. Based on the amount of money being spent on the military, it makes sense why people would question the military spending of the US. When there are all these different issues within the US like homelessness and healthcare, it feels odd to pool in millions of dollars on vehicles that are not used actively a majority of the time. I really enjoyed all the facts you cover in your blog, great work!
ReplyDeleteHello Peter! This article written about the American Military Strength caught my eye. It had everything to make it alluding: key facts, picture, and great analysis. I loved how you were able to connect this description with J. Robert Oppenheimer as it relates quite closely to the movie that came out a little while back describing the trauma that Oppenheimer had to go to for fullfilling his promise of making the bomb without realizing all the negative affects it had. I loved how you were able to split the topic into three main categories that were able to be distinguished at the same time blended it nicely. The first being the history of the nuclear bomb that made the United States a major superpower before the Cold War was held through multiple trials that eventually succeded some time later. By elaborating on the history to the current affairs with the "geopolitical" tension between the "US and China," it is easier to see how these values can portray to the current day. In addition, it was valuable to include some numbers by stating the warships and crafts that were used to show this growth. Furthermore, the abstract value of controlling other countries based on military bases brings up an interesting point that you evaluated in the final paragraph. Overall, this article was very well organized and written. Great work!
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