Military Powers

[therise21]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohmar Deathstrike
Well Japan is rich enough to spend a bit less than a quarter of world-expenditure, yet they choose to spend only 1% of their GDP on military. :smile:

Yeh, that treaty is called the Japanese Constitution.

so your first point is null.

 

[godofthunder9010]

The Constitution of Japan forbids them to have an offensive military. This means that they can't take it outside their own borders. The only opperations outside of Japan their military has thusfar done (since WW2) has been medical portions of their military being sent to help out.

 

[deerslayer]

In my opinion, it's not as much about the man power your force has, but rather what your force has in terms of inventories,(aircraft, boats, weapons tech.)resources(manufacturing plants,crude oil etc), and allies. The area where the United states is weakest right now would have to be allies. We are..erm...not very popular with the world right now. And that could hurt us with the wrong move.

ahem... but those inventories are worthless without the proper thinking to back them up. There's always an intellectual side to military strength, and that side is the application of those inventories.

 

[Ronin]

China is the biggest threat the US is doing nothing about, but that's a story for another thread.

And of course it isn't always about the manpower, but look at Soviet Russia in World War II. Individualy, the German soldier was a vastly superior warrior, but they were overwhelmed and defeated by sheer number alone.

And Japan certainly seems to be coming out of its defense role. Troops in Iraq, and now involvement with North Korea. I for one would be glad to have another modern military force on our side, especially one in the Pacific. Once again, China...

 

[Mohmar Deathstrike]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohmar Deathstrike
Well Japan is rich enough to spend a bit less than a quarter of world-expenditure, yet they choose to spend only 1% of their GDP on military. :smile:




so your first point is null.

Constitutions can be changed...

 

[godofthunder9010]

China is the biggest threat the US is doing nothing about, but that's a story for another thread.

And of course it isn't always about the manpower, but look at Soviet Russia in World War II. Individualy, the German soldier was a vastly superior warrior, but they were overwhelmed and defeated by sheer number alone.

While it is true that overwhelming numbers did work in WW2 for the Soviets, it should be remembered that their forces were very unsuccessful in their opperations until they had implemented more modern "Blitzkrieg" tactics. Prior to that, Germany went up against substantially larger Soviet forces and ripped them appart. So the Soviets couldn't win on the Eastern Front until they learned to fight smarter.

And Japan certainly seems to be coming out of its defense role. Troops in Iraq, and now involvement with North Korea. I for one would be glad to have another modern military force on our side, especially one in the Pacific. Once again, China...

The presence of China and its frequent statments of hostility towards Japan have forced the Japanese to take them very seriously and to invest in building a solid military with which to defend themselves.

I think we may be on the verge of seeing Japan change its Constitution to allow it's military to opperate outside its borders. At least, such a change seems likely in the near future. And the political and media backlash involved will be enormous.

 

[Rob Henderson]

ahem... but those inventories are worthless without the proper thinking to back them up. There's always an intellectual side to military strength, and that side is the application of those inventories.

Another good point. You can have the best equipment in the world, along with the best men in the world, and still not be the best in the world without the proper leadership, strategy,tactics, etc.


The point is, no matter how many men you have, there are always other factors.

 

[SNowblind]

Regarding the discussion regarding the Germans and the Soviets, the German army was superior, by and far, man to man, but the Soviets had one advantage: numbers, and Stalin knew how to make use of it.
For every German casualty 3-4 Soviets were WIA-KIA.

Almost every large war since the industrial revolution has shown that the outcome is determined not by the army itself, but the economic capacity that supports it.
The exception to this would be the regional conflicts that America has gotten into (Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq....). In all of these America had or HAS the ability to win, but freedom of the media compared with popular soverighnty....gotta go, edit later