The seasons of history vary based on the significance of events happening then. The Roman Empire grew and sprawled across the Mediterranean in a most impressive manner. At a time when conflict and conquest was the primary means of expansion, Rome perfected those traits. From the 6th Century BC until the fall of its western empire in 476 AD, it ruled with an iron fist. Rome would collapse after abandoning its republican form of government and allowing rampant corruption and decay within its society.
In time the so-called Dark Ages descended over the Mediterranean and Europe. This was a time of intellectual stagnation in Europe after the fall of Rome. It was also a time of regional and tribal conflict. Eventually there would be a rise of new creativity referred to as the Renaissance. That would take the forms of art, music, and the rediscovery of the great thinkers prior to and during the Roman Empire. The world rediscovered some qualities worth preserving and building on.
However, that was followed by an age of colonialism where rising powers like Spain, England, France and other western cultures would expand westward to the “New World.” A lot of the “old world” would accompany those explorations as Europeans displaced natives of the western hemisphere that in time would become the Americas.
The industrial age then sprang up and fueled great powers in Europe and the Americas, especially in the US. This inventive age would product a level of wealth unseen in the past. Yet social strife among classes developed at opposite ends of the economic spectrum. Social revolution would follow that would eventually give way to major conflicts, primarily in Europe.
Those conflicts would eventually involve the US—reluctantly—and result afterwards in an age of American preeminence. That singularity would be tested by World War II and the Cold War. Great power competition between the Soviet Union and the US would arise and be further defined by nuclear weapons proliferation. The tension was profound. Client states gathered around and aligned with America or Russia.
In time the Cold War—while avoiding nuclear war—would yield to a period of American dominance with a diminished former Soviet Union that collapsed when faced with US military and economic superiority. Bi-polar competition was thought to be dead. Actually, it was in abeyance.
What arose was a multi-polar world that was multi-dangerous. The client states decided to be major players. Iran and North Korea both aspire to be nuclear powers and pose real dangers to world peace. Moreover, state-sponsored terror is on the rise and difficult to abate.
And amid these threats, Russia seems committed to reassembling the former Soviet Union, even if they have to invade now free countries to do so. Add to that China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific region. We have entered what I would call the Age of Resurgence.
Nationalism is again on the rise as countries begin to turn inward to tend to what they believe to be their national interest, the preservation of their culture, and their place in the world order. The days of internationalism are wanning and that portends division as national objectives wear on the sentiments of their competitors. Internal goals, however, can have external implications as nationalism inevitably produces winners and losers. It can become class warfare on a global scale. And while the strongest of nations—like the US—will be able to partially insulate themselves from those conflicts, that will not be sufficient to escape the resurgence of war and strife that will arise.
Admittedly, this is a cursory and imperfect walk-through of history on my part. Yet I think it is largely true and likely to pan out. Let the critique begin.
There are those in America today who say we must extricate ourselves from foreign wars. They are not wrong. The counterinsurgency escapades of recent years have sapped America’s enthusiasm for conflict. But in dealing with the realities for war, extrication and preparation are two entirely different ideas. We may seek to do the former. We have need to do the latter and that will not be cheap when it comes to guns vs. butter.
Simply put, America’s military is not prepared to conduct conventional war or, as it is currently termed, large-scale combat operations. Nonetheless, our military must be capable of fighting the full spectrum of warfare, from small to large ones. But whatever the case may be, our years of neglect have resulted in military forces that must be enlarged, strengthened, and refurbished to do what confronts us.
In military parlance, we remind ourselves that despite our desire for peace, “the enemy always has a vote.” And we must be prepared in this Age of Resurgence to deal with conflicts that we cannot arrogantly ignore or carelessly wish away.
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