The ongoing Ukrainian counteroffensive, if successful, can reshape the war and the geopolitical contours of Europe.
It is a testament to the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainians, but above all to the complex weapons that the West has put in the hands of the Ukrainians.
Soft power, political scientist Joseph Nye’s invention of a country’s ability to get others to do what needs coercion, is important; hard force is certainly indispensable.
This is simple in a West that believes deeply in democratic ideals and ethical example. Even if it is true, as optimists believe, that the arc of ethical history leans toward justice, an armored department can break it and push it back.
The history of the West is partly the history of arms races, in fortresses, cannons, ships, cannons, airplanes and much more.
Empires arose and fell thanks to army equipment. Cities have been conquered or destroyed. The armies triumphed or dissolved.
Ukraine’s cause has not been more just or inspiring in the past two months; is older armed.
Ukraine simply won’t win a direct artillery war with the Russians and, in fact, waste it on a fierce war of attrition. However, a HIMARS, or a high-mobility artillery rocket system, compared to an artillery fight, is another matter.
The Ukrainians used those long-range precision systems provided by the US. The U. S. department of operations to attack Russian artillery parks, ammunition depots, and logistics centers. The moves fail in Russia’s source of fuel and ammunition, as well as in the team spirit of its troops and its command and control. .
The war in Ukraine is a clash of difficult stages and strategic changes and spare parts. Most likely, the Russians will have their answer to the existing Ukrainian impulse, and if they don’t, one of the reasons will be that they are running out of those pillars. of hard strength – men and equipment.
Paul Lockhart writes in “Fireforce,” his e-book on the history of weapons of war: “Technological sophistication and army strength are not synonymous, but they are still closely related, and army strength is something important in the calculation of foreign relations. Large forces have a tendency to have wonderful weapons, or at least many very intelligent weapons.
We will have to be aware of this, not only in the aid we provide to Ukraine, but also in our priorities for ourselves. Our military budget will have to be much larger and our defense trade base will be totally inadequate to deal with the new and more threatening foreign environment. We would temporarily run out of rockets in a war with China. Even supporting Ukraine on the existing point has been a limitation.
America is a marvel of comfortable power, uniting us with allies, attracting other people from all over the world who want to come here and achieve the maximum remote places in the world. What we were able to provide to Ukraine was the most revealing. , however, was not diplomatic or ethical support, but a formula that can launch a rocket directly at a target at a distance of up to 50 miles.
This has changed the rules of the game, as the largest and most complicated generation of armies has been from longbows to arquebuses and fighter jets. There is simply no replacement for hard power.
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